I fe^ all
■ n^ I b . ri ■ ■
i'r\«'i^ii.,,'
■s&^-a^f'-'J'i-'-'V'* *■-*■■■"■'■ '-•' ■-•'■■
&fi]Sw8^c''riM 'i V' 1
-.Til.
E'"
V'
I ftCMflsKpSJSKi'f v\i' J
4'i.
;"
SHHS^^-BsxCJ
fli:K
.'-.V
. I-I-S,
Ih'i
-r^'
iK'3'ti^^'i''«K'~'6
.JL^J',
.%!
' b I'M/*
^p%
■.,af --;.
v.,
y^l'''!^"'
■:^
i4- ■!)'', l.'l
CORNlELL
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME
OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT
FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY
HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE
Cornell University Library
DG 540.8.I74A24
V.1
Isabella d'Este, marchioness of Mantua,
3 1924 028 281 396
I Cornell University
J Library
The original of tiiis book is in
tine Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028281396
ISABELLA D'ESTE
ISABELLA D'ESTE
MARCHIONESS OF MANTUA
1474-1539
A STUDY OF THE RENAISSANCE
BY JULIA CARTWRIGHT (Mrs. ADY)
•)
AUTHOR OF "BEATRICE D'ESTE," "THE PAINTERS
OF FLORENCE," "MADAME," ETC.
" La prima donna del mondo."
NiCCOLO DA CORREGGIO.
" D'opere illustri e di bei studi arnica,
CK io non so ben se piii leggiadra e bella.
Mi debba dire, piu saggia e pudica
Liberate e magnanima Isabella,"
Ariosto.
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1903
S ''f
y
7-/
J'f
V
. 1
^oLU^Otf
PREFACE
The life of Isabella d'Este has never yet been written.
After four hundred years, the greatest lady of the
Renaissance stUl awaits her biographer. An unkind
fate has pursued all the scholars, whether French,
German, or Italian, who have hitherto attempted the
task. Their labours have been hindered and inter-
rupted, or their lives prematurely cut short by death.
More than fifty years ago an interesting study on the
famous Marchesa, from the pen of a Mantuan scholar,
Carlo d'Arco, was published in the Archivio Storico
Italiano (1845), based upon documents preserved in
the Gonzaga Archives. In 1867, a distinguished
Frenchman, M. Armand Baschet, wrote a remark-
able essay on Isabella d'Este's relations with the
great Venetian printer, Aldo Manuzio, but died
before he could execute his intention of publishing
a life of this princess. A mass of documents, which
he had copied from the Mantuan Archives, remained
in the hands of the late M. Charles Yriarte, who
wrote several interesting chapters on Isabella d'Este's
relations with the great painters of her age, in the
Gazette des Beaux Arts, and was preparing a fuUer
and more complete work on the subject when he
died. M. Firmin Didot, Dr. Janitschek, Dr. Reumont,
and Ferdinand Gregorovius have all in turn given
us sketches of Isabella in their historical works, while
deploring the absence of any biography which should
do full justice to so attractive and important a figure.
vi J^Kll^JbAUl!^
Meanwhile, Italian students have not been idle.
Twenty years ago a learned Mantuan ecclesiastic,
Canonico Willelmo BraghiroUi, made a careful study
of Isabella's correspondence with Giovanni Bellini
and Perugino, and published many of the letters
relating to these artists. But he too died before his
time, leaving her hfe stiU unwritten. Other well-
known scholars, Ferrato, Bertolotti, Campori, Signor
Vittore Cian, and Cavaliere Stefano Davari, the pre-
sent Director of the Archivio Gonzaga, have turned
their attention to different aspects of the theme, and
have published studies on the Gonzaga princes, or on
the scholars and artists attached to their court. Above
all. Dr. Alessandro Luzio, the present Keeper of the
State Archives of Mantua, and his former colleague,
Signor Ridolfo Renier, have devoted years of patient
and untiring labour to the examination of the vast
mass of Isabella d'Este's correspondence, amounting
to upwards of two thousand letters, which had been
fortunately preserved. During the last fifteen years
these indefatigable workers have published a whole
series of valuable articles and pamphlets containing
the results of their researches, as well as one small
volume, in which the intercourse between the courts
of Mantua and Urbino, in the hfetime of Isabella
and her sister-in-law, Ehsabetta Gonzaga, is fully
described. In an essay which Signor Renier contri-
buted to the Italia, fifteen years ago, he informed his
readers that he and Dr. Luzio would shortly pubhsh
a monograph on the great Marchesa, but these dis-
tinguished scholars have as yet been unable to fulfil
their promise, and the appearance of this important
and long-expected work is still delayed.
Meanwhile, the following study, without pretend-
PREFACE vii
ing to be an exhaustive biography, may interest those
of our readers who are already famihar with Isabella
through the Life of her sister, Beatrice d'Este.^ The
history of these two princesses was closely inter-
woven during the early days of their wedded life,
and Isabella's visits to Milan, and her correspondence
with Lodovico Sforza and his young wife naturally
filled a large share of her time and thoughts. But
these six brilliant years which made up the whole of
Beatrice's married life formed only a brief episode
in Isabella's long and eventful career. During the
next forty years she played an important part in the
history of her times, and made the little court of
Mantua famous in the eyes of the whole civilised
world. Her close relationship with the reigning
families of Milan and Naples, of Ferrara and Urbino,
and constant intercourse with Popes and monarchs
made her position one of peculiar importance, while
the wisdom and sagacity which she showed in poli-
tical affairs commanded universal respect. Both
during the lifetime of her husband and son she
was repeatedly called upon to administer the gov-
ernment of the state, and showed a coolness and
dexterity in the conduct of the most difficult
negotiations that would have excited the admiration
of Machiavelli himself By her skilful diplomacy
this able woman saved the little state of Mantua
from falling a prey to the ambitious designs of Csesar
Borgia, or the vengeance of two powerful French
monarchs, Louis XII. and Francis I. At the
same time she helped her brother, Duke Alfonso of
Ferrara, to resist the furious assaults of Julius II.
1 Beatrice d'Este^ Duchess of Milan, by Julia Cartwright.
(Dent & Co., 1899.)
viii PREFACE
and the tortuous policy of Leo X., and to preserve
his duchy in the face of the most prolonged and
determined opposition. Isabella lived to see the
fulfilment of her fondest wish, when, in 1531, the
newly-crowned Emperor, Charles V., visited Mantua
and raised her eldest son to the rank of Duke, while
Pope Clement VII. bestowed a Cardinal's hat on her
second son Ercole.
But it is above all as a patron of art and letters
that Isabella d'Este will be remembered. In this
respect she deserves a place with the most enhght-
ened princes of the Renaissance, with Lorenzo dei
Medici and Lodovico Sforza. A true child of her
age, Isabella combined a passionate love of beauty
and the most profound reverence for antiquity with
the finest critical taste. Her studios and viUas
were adorned with the best paintings and statues by
the first masters of the day, and with the rarest
antiques from the Eternal City and the Isles of
Greece. Her book-shelves contained the daintiest
editions of classical works printed at the Aldine
Press, and the newest poems and romances by living
writers. Viols and organs of exquisite shape and
tone, lutes of inlaid ivory and ebony, the richest
brocades and rarest gems, the finest gold and silver
work, the choicest majohca and most delicately
tinted Murano glass found a place in her camerim.
But everything that she possessed must be of the
best, and she was satisfied with nothing short of
perfection. Even Mantegna and Perugino some-
times failed to please her, and Aldo's books were
returned to be more carefully revised and printed.
To attain these objects Isabella spared neither time
nor trouble. She wrote endless letters, and gave the
PREFACE ix
artists in her employment the most elaborate and
minute instructions. Braghirolli counted as many
as forty letters on the subject of a single picture
painted by Giovanni Bellini, and no less than fifty-
three on a painting entrusted to Perugino. Especial
attention has been devoted to this portion of Isabella's
correspondence in the present work. The vast num-
ber of letters which passed between her and the chief
artists of the day have hitherto lain buried in foreign
archives or hidden in pamphlets and periodicals, many
of them already out of print. All these have been
carefuUy collected, and are for the first time brought
together here.
If Isabella was a fastidious and at times a
severe critic, she was also a generous and kindly
patron, prompt to recognise true merit and stimulate
creative effort, and ever ready to befriend struggling
artists. And poets and painters alike gave her freely
of their best. Castiglione and Niccolo da Correggio,
Bembo and Bibbiena, were among her constant
correspondents. Aldo Manuzio printed Virgils and
Petrarchs for her use, Lorenzo da Pavia made her
musical instruments of unrivalled beauty and sweet-
ness. The works of Mantegna and Costa, of Giovanni
Bellini and Michelangelo, of Perugino and Correggio,
adorned her rooms. Giovanni Santi, Andrea Man-
tegna, Francesco Francia, and Lorenzo Costa all
in turn painted portraits of her, which have alas!
perished. But her beautiful features still live in
Leonardo's perfect drawing, in Cristoforo's medal,
and in Titian's great picture at Vienna, Nor were
poets and prose-writers remiss in paying her their
homage. Paolo Giovio addressed her as the rarest of
women ; Bembo and Trissino celebrated her charms
X PREFACE
and virtues in their sonnets and canzoni. Castiglione
gave her a high place in his courtly record, Ariosto
paid her a magnificent tribute in his "Orlando,"
while endless were the songs and lays which minor
bards offered at the shrine of this peerless Marchesa,
whom they justly called the foremost lady in the
world — " la prima donna del mondor — " Isabella
d'Este," writes Jacopo Caviceo, " at the sound of
whose name all the Muses rise and do reverence."
In her aims and aspirations Isabella was a typical
child of the Renaissance, and her thoughts and actions
faithfully reflected the best traditions of the age.
Her own conduct was blameless. As a wife and
mother, as a daughter and sister, she was beyond
reproach. But her judgments conformed to the
standard of her own times, and her diplomacy fol-
lowed the principles of Machiavelli and of Marino
Sanuto. She had a strong sense of family aiFections,
and would have risked her life for the sake of ad-
vancing the interests of her husband and children
or brothers, but she did not hesitate to ask Cassar
Borgia for the statues of which he had robbed her
brother-in-law, and danced merrily at the ball given '
by Louis XII. while her old friend and kinsman
Duke Lodovico languished in the dungeons of
Loches. Like others of her age, she knew no
regrets and felt no remorse, but lived wholly in the
present, throwing herself with all the might of her
strong vitality into the business or enjoyment of the
hour, forgetful of the past and careless of the future.
Fortunate in the time of her birth and in the cir-
cumstances of her life, Isabella was above all fortunate
in this, that she saw the finest works of the Renais-
sance in the prime of their beauty. She knew
PREFACE xi
Venice and Milan in their most triumphant hour,
when the glowing hues of Titian and Giorgione's
frescoes, of Leonardo and Gian Bellini's paintings,
were fresh upon the walls. She visited the famous
palace of Urbino in the days of the good Duke
Guidobaldo, when young Raphael was painting his
first pictures, and Bembo and Castiglione sat at the
feet of the gentle Duchess Elisabetta. She came
to Florence when Leonardo and Michelangelo were
working side by side at their cartoons in the
Council Hall, and she was the guest of Leo X., and
saw the wonders of the Sistina and of Raphael's
Stanze, before the fair halls of the Vatican had been
defaced by barbarian invaders.
Many and sad were the changes that she witnessed
in the course of her long life. She saw the first
" invasion of the stranger, and all Italy in flame and
fire," as her own Ferrara poet sang in words of
passionate lament. She saw Naples torn from the
house of Aragon, the fair Milanese, where the Moro
and Beatrice had reigned in their pride, lost in a
single day. She saw Urbino conquered twice over
and her own kith and kin driven into exile, first by
the treacherous Borgia, then by a Medici Pope,
who was bound to the reigning house by the closest
ties of friendship and gratitude. And in 1527, she
was herself an unwilling witness of the nameless
horrors that attended the siege and sack of Rome.
Three years later, she was present at the Emperor
Charles V.'s coronation at Bologna, and took an
active part in the splendid ceremonies that marked
the loss of Italian independence and the close of
this great period. But to the last Isabella retained
the same dehght in beauty, the same keen sense of
xii PREFACE
enjoyment. She advanced in years without ever
growing old, and in the last months of her life, one
of the foremost scholars of the age, Cardinal Bembo,
pronounced her to be the wisest and most fortunate
of women. The treasures of art and learning which
she had collected were sold by her descendants to
foreign princes or destroyed when the Germans
sacked Mantua ninety years after her death, and the
ruin of her favourite palaces and villas was completed
by the French invaders of 1797, who did not even
spare the tomb which held her ashes. But Isabella
herself will be long remembered as the fairest and
most perfect flower of womanhood which blossomed
under the sunny skies of Virgil's land, in the
immortal days of the Italian Renaissance.
JULIA CARTWRIGHT.
I add a list of the chief authorities on the life
and times of Isabella d'Este : —
ITALIAN.
Notizie di Isabella Esteuse. Carlo d'Arco (Archivio Storico
Italiano, Appendice. Tom. ii.). 1845.
Deir Arte e degli Artefici di Mantova. Carlo d'Arco. 2 torn. 1857.
Discorso intomo le Belle Lettere e le Arte Mantovani. Abate
Bettinelli. 1774.
Cronaca di Mantova. A. Schivenoglia. 1445-1484. MuUer.
Raccolta. 1857.
Storia di Mantova. Mario Equicola. I6l0.
De Mulieribus. Mario Equicola.
Storia eeclesiastica di Mantova. Donesmondi. I6l3-l6l6.
Diario Ferrarese. Italicarum Rerum Scriptores. xxiv. L. A.
Muratori. 1750.
Storia di Ferrara. A. Frizzi. Tom. iv., v. 1791.
Compendio della Storia di Mantova. Volta. 1807-1838.
Lettere inedite di Artisti cavate dall' Archivio Gonzaga. W,
BraghiroUi. 1878.
PREFACE xiii
Isabella d'Este e Giovanni Bellini. W. Braghirolli (Archivio
Veneto, xiii.). Mantova. 1877.
Notizie inedite di P. Vannucchi. W. Braghirolli. Perugia. 1874.
Tiziano alia Corte dei Gonzaghi. W. Braghirolli. 1881.
Notizie e Documenti intorno al ritratto di Leon X. W. Braghirolli
e C. d'Arco (Archivio Storico Italiano, vii.). 1868.
Lettere inedite di donne Mantovane del secolo XV. P. Ferrato. 1878.
Alcune lettere di Principesse di Casa Gonzaga. P. Ferrato. Imola.
1879-
Mantova e Urbino. Isabella d'Este ed Elisabetta Gonzaga. Nar-
razione storica documentata di A. Luzio e R. Renier. 1893.
I Precettori d'Isabella d'Este. A. Luzio. 1887.
Federico Gonzaga, Ostaggio alia Corte di Giulio II. 1887.
Delle Relazioni d'Isabella d'Este. — Gonzaga con Lodovico e
Beatrice Sforza. Luzio e Renier (Archivio Storico LombardOj
xvii.). Milano. 1890.
Isabella e la Corte Sforzesca. Luzio (Archivio Storico Lombard©,
xxviii.). Milano. 1901.
Francesco Gonzaga alia battaglia di Fornovo (Archivio Storico
Italiano, Serie V., v. vi.). Luzio e Renier. Firenze. 1890.
Gara di viaggio fra due celebri dame del Rinascimento. Luzio e
Renier. Alessandria. 1890.
Isabella d'Este. Rivista Italia, i. R. Renier. Roma. 1888.
Niccolo da Correggio. Luzio e Renier (Giornale Storico della
Letteratura Italiana, torn. xxi. e xxii.). Torino. 1893.
BufFoni, nani e schiavi dei Gonzaga ai tempi d'Isabella d'Este.
Luzio e Renier (Nuova Antologia). Roma. I89I.
II Lusso d'Isabella d'Este. Luzio (Nuova Antologia). Roma. 1896.
Lettere inedite di Fra Sabba da Castiglione. Luzio (Archivio
Storico Lombardo, xiii.). Milano. 1886.
Vittoria Colonna. Luzio (Rivista Storica Mantovana, i.). Man-
tova. 1885.
II Palazzo di Mantova. Stefano Davari (Archivio Storico ,Lom-
bardo, xxii.). 1895.
La Musica in Mantova. Stetano Davari (Rivista Storica Manto-
vana, i.). 1885.
Le Arte Minori alia Corte di Mantova. A. Bertolotti (Archivio
Storico Lombardo, v.).
Artisti in relazione coi Gonzaga. A. Bertolotti. Modena. 1885.
II Palazzo del T6. G. B. Intra (Archivio Storico Lombardo, xiv.).
1887.
Notizie intorno alio studio publico in Mantova. S. Davari. 1876.
xiv PREFACE
II Matrimonio di Dorotea Gonzaga. S. Davari.
II Matrimonio di Federico Gonzaga(Areh. Storico Lombard©). 1 887.
Lorenzo Gusnasco. Dr. Carlo dell' Acqua. Milano. 1886.
G. C. Romano. A. Venturi (Archivio Storico dell' Arte, i.). 1888,
Lorenzo Costa. A. Venturi (Archivio Storico dell' Arte, i.). 1888,
Notizie da Raffaelle e Giovanni Santi. G. Campori. Modena. 1870,
La Coltura e le Relazioni Letterarie di Isabella d'Este Gonzaga,
Luzio e Renier (Giornale Storico della Letteratura Italiana,
xxxiii.). Torino. 1899-1901.
Pietro Bembo. V. Cian (Giornale Storico di Letteratura Italiana,
ix.). Torino. 1887.
Un decennio nella vita di P. Bembo. V. Cian. 1885.
Nuovi Documenti su Pietro Pomponazzi. V. Cian. Venezia. 1887.
Ercole Gonzaga a Bologna. Luzio (Giornale Storico della Let-
teratura Italiana, viii.). Torino. 1886.
La Madonna della Vittoria del Mantegna. Luzio (Emporium, x.).
Bergamo. 1899.
La Chiesa e la Madonna della Vittoria. Portioli. 1883.
I Ritrattid'Isabella d'Este. Luzio (Emporiumjxi.). Bergamo. 1900.
Viaggio d'Isabella d'Este sul Lago di Garda. A. Pedrazzoli
(Archivio Storico Lomibardo, xxii.). 1890.
Carteggio inedito d'Artisti. Gaye, torn. ii. e iii. Firenze. 1837.
La Vita di Benvenuto Cellini.
Le Vite dei piu Eccellenti Pittori, Scultori ed Architettori, scritte
da Giorgo Vasari con nuove annotazioni di Gaetano Milanesi.
Firenze. 1878.
Leonardo da Vinci. Edmondo Solmi. Firenze. 1900.
Leonardo da Vinci. Luzio (Archivio Storico dell' Arte, i.). 1888.
Lettere di Pietro Bembo. Verona. 1743.
Deir Imprese. Paolo Giovio. 1555.
Lettere di Baldassarre Castiglione. Edizione Serassi. 1769.
Lettere diplomatiche di Castiglione. Ed. Contini. Padova. 1875.
Delleesenzionidellafamigliadi Castiglione. Codde. Mantova. 1780.
Notizie biografiche intorno al Conte Baldassarre Castiglione.
Martinati, 1890.
Un Giudizio di lesa romanit4. D. Gnoli. Roma. 1891.
Renata di Francia. B. Fontana. Roma. 1889.
Gian Giacomo Trissino. B. Morsolin. Vicenza. 1894.
Francesco Chiericati. B. Morsolin. Vicenza. 1873.
Opere del Trissino. Ed. Maffei. Verona. 1729.
Origini del Teatro Italiano. Alessandro d'Ancona. 2 tom. Torino.
1891.
PREFACE XV
Cesare Borgia. Ed. Alvisi. Imola. 1878.
Vittoria Colonna. A. Reumont. Torino. 1883.
Veronica Gambara. Rime e lettere raccolte. F. Rizzardi. Brescia.
1759.
Lettere inedite di V. Gambara. R. Renier (Giornale Storico della
Letteratura Italiana, xiv.). Torino. 1 889.
Vita di Luigi Gonzaga Rodomonte. Aff6. Parma. 1780.
Storia di Gazolo. Bergamaski. Casalmaggiore. 1883.
Famiglie celebri Italiane. P. Litt4. 8 tom. Milano. 1819-1858.
Storia d' Italia. Fr. Guicciardini. Firenze. 1822.
Opere Inedite. Fr. Guicciardini. 10 tom. Firenze. 1857-1867.
Vita di Vittorino da Feltre. Rosmini. 1845.
DispacciGiustiniani, 1502-1505. Ed. Villari. S tom. Firenze. 1876.
Fonti italiane per lo scoperto del Nuovo Mondo. W. Berghet.
Roma. 1892,
Lettere storiche, 1509-1528. Luigi da Porto. Firenze. 1857.
Storia dei Conti e Duchi da Urbino. J. Ugolini. Firenze. 1859.
Sacco di Roma. Narrazioni di Contemporanei. Ed. Milanesi.
Firenze. 1867.
Delia venuta e dimora in Bologna del S. Pontefice Clemente VII.,
per la Coronazione di Carlo V. Imperatore. G.Giordano. 1842.
I Diarii di Marino Sanuto, I496-I535. Stefano Berghet. Venezia.
1885-1900. 58 tom.
Le Novelle del Bandello. Ed. Busdrago. Lucca. 1554.
II Cortigiano di B. Castiglione, annotato da V. Cian. Firenze. 1894.
Caterina Sforza. P. D. Pasolini. 3 tom. Rome, 1893.
FRENCH.
Les Relations de Leonardo da Vinci avec Isabelle d'Este. Charles
Yriarte (Gazette des Beaux Arts). 1888.
Isabelle d'Este et les Artistes de son temps. Charles Yriarte
(Gazette des Beaux Arts). 1895 et 1896.
Andrea Mantegna. Charles Yriarte. Paris. I9OI.
Aide Manuce et I'Hellenisme 4 Venise. Ambroise Firmin Didot.
Paris. 1875.
Aide Manuce. Lettres et Documents. Armand Baschet. Venise.
1867.
Recherches des Documents dans les Archives de Mantoue. Armand
Baschet (Gazette des Beaux Arts). 1866.
Documents inedits tires des Archives de Mantoue. Armand
Baschet (Archivio Storico Italiano, iii.). 1886.
xvi PREFACE
Les Medailleurs Italians des quinzidme et seizi^me si^cles,
Armand. Paris. 1883-1887.
Leonardo da Vinci. Eugfene Muntz. Paris. 1898.
Histoire de I'Art pendant la Renaissance. Italie. Paris. Eugfene
Miintz. Tom. ii. 1891.
L'Art ferrarais 4 I'epoque des Princes d'Este. Gustave Gruyer.
Paris. 1877. 2 tomes.
Louis XIL et L. Sforza. Louis Pelissier. 1498-1500.
Les Amies de Ludovic Sforza (Revue historique). L. Pelissier. 1891.
Cesar Borgia, sa vie, sa captivitCj sa mort. C. Yriarte. Paris. 1887.
Au tour des Borgias. C. Yriarte. Paris. 1891.
GERMAN.
Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter, Bande vii. und viii,
F. Gregorovius. Stuttgart. 1880.
Geschichte der Stadt Rom. A. Reumont. Leipzig. 1872.
Geschichte der Papste. Dr. Ludwig Pastor. English edition, 6
vols. 1888.
Andrea Mantegna. Paul Kristeller. English edition by S. A.
Strong. 1901.
Barbara von Brandenburg (" HohenzoUern Jahrbuch," 1897).
Paul Kristeller. 1901.
Barbara von HohenzoUern, Markgrafin von Mantua. B. Hofmann,
Anspach. 1881.
Lucrezia Borgia. F. Gregorovius. Stuttgart. 1875.
Papst Julius n. 1878.
Kunst und Kiinstler. Dohme. Leipzig. 1878, &c.
Die Gesellschaft der Renaissance in Italien und die Kunst. H.
Janitschek. Stuttgart. 1879-
Der Cultur der Renaissance in Italien. J. Burckhardt. Basel. 1 860.
ENGLISH.
Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino. Dennistoun. 3 vols. 1851.
Life and Works of Raphael. Crowe and Cavalcaselle. 1882,
Life and Works of Titian. Crowe and Cavalcaselle. 1881.
The Renaissance in Italy. J. A. Symonds. 1886.
History of the Papacy. Dr. Creighton. 1897.
II Principe, by N. Machiavelli. Ed. by L. Burd, with an introduc-
tion by Lord Acton. Oxford, 1891.
The Cambridge Modern History. Ed. by A. W. Ward, G. W.
Prothero and Stanley Leathes. Vol. I. The Renaissance.
1902.
The Emperor Charles V. By Edward Armstrong. 1902.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
1474—1490
PAGE
Birth of Isabella d'Este — Her betrothal to Francesco
Gonzaga — Visit of the Mantuan envoy to Ferrara —
Her letters to the Marquis — Mantegna's Madonna —
EUsabetta Gonzaga visits Ferrara — Personal charms of
Isabella — Her education and teachers — Classical studies
and love of music — Cultured tastes of her parents —
Music and art at their court — Cosimo Tura and Ercole
Roberti — Marriage of Isabella — Her reception at
■Mantua ....... 1-18
CHAPTER II
1328—1478
The court of Mantua and house of Gonzaga — Gianfran-
cesco II., the first Marquis — Vittorino da Feltre and
the Casa Zoiosa — Ceciha Gonzaga — Reign of Lodovico
Gonzaga and Barbara of Brandenburg — Their patronage
of art and learning — Marriage of Federico to Margaret
of Bavaria — Betrothal of Dorotea Gonzaga to Galeazzo
Sforza — Frescoes of the Camera degli Sposi . . 19-36
CHAPTER III
1478—1490
Reign of Federico Gonzaga — Death of his wife and mother —
His love for his daughters — Visit of Lorenzo dei
Medici — Accession of Francesco Gonzaga — His charac-
ter and warlike tastes — Betrothal of Elisabetta Gonzaga
to Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino — His visit to Mantua
— Marriage of Elisabetta — Her return to Mantua for
VOL. I "" 6
xviii CONTENTS
PAO£
Francesco's wedding — Her friendship with Isabella
d'Este — Excursion to the Lago di Garda — Visits to
Ferrara .....•• 37-53
CHAPTER IV
1490—1493
Marriage of Beatrice d'Este to Lodovico Sforza — Isabella's
preparations for the wedding — Journey to Pavia and
Milan — Marriage of Alfonso d'Este to Anna Sforza —
F6tes at Ferrara — Correspondence of Isabella with
Lodovico and Beatrice Sforza — Isabella administers
affairs of State — Galeotto's dyke — Visits to Ferrara,
Milan, and Genoa — The Duchess of Urbino comes to
Mantua — Isabella's affection for Ehsabetta . . 54-69
CHAPTER V
1491—1493
Correspondence of Isabella with her family and friends;
with merchants and jewellers — Her intellectual in-
terests — Love of French romances and classical
authors — Greek and Hebrew translations and de-
votional works — Fra Mariano and Savonarola —
Antonio Tebaldeo — Isabella's friendships — Niccolo da
Correggio — Sonnets and eclogues composed for her —
Her love of music — Songs and favourite instruments —
Atalante Migliorotti's lyre — Isabella's camerino in the
Castello — Liombeni decorates her studiolo — Mantegna
returns from Rome — Paints Isabella's portrait —
Giovanni Santi at Mantua . . . . 70-93
CHAPTER VI
1493—1494
Discovery of the New World— The news reaches Mantua —
Birth of the Moro's son — Isabella's journey to Ferrara
and Venice — Reception by the Doge and Signory —
Her relations with Gentile Belhni — Return to Mantua
Francesco Gonzaga at Venice — Death of Duchess
CONTENTS xix
PAGE
Leonora — Birth of Leonora Gonzaga — Departure of
the Duke and Duchess of Urbino — Decorations of
Marmirolo and Gonzaga . . . 94-107
CHAPTER VII
1494—1495
Journey of Isabella to Loreto and Urbino — Letters from
Gubbio and Urbino — Charles VIII. enters Italy — The
Marquis of Mantua refuses his offers — Visit of Isabella
to Milan — Conquest of Naples by the French — League
against France — Francesco Gonzaga, captain of the
armies of the League — Isabella governs Mantua —
Battle of the Taro — Heroism of Francesco Gonzaga —
Rejoicings at Venice and Mantua — The Jew Daniele
Norsa and Mantegna's Madonna della Vittoria . 108-127
CHAPTER VIII
1496—1497
Campaign of Naples — Ferrante recovers his kingdom —
Francesco Gonzaga commands the Venetian army —
Isabella governs Mantua — Her correspondence and
friendship with Lorenzo da Pavia — Birth of her second
daughter — Illness of the Marquis — His return to
Mantua, and visit to Venice — Death of Ferrante of
Naples, of Gilbert de Montpensier, and Beatrice
d'Este — Francesco Gonzaga deprived of the office of
captain-general of the Venetian armies — Death of
Anna Sforza ..... 128-144
CHAPTER IX
14,98—1499
Intrigues of Francesco Gonzaga with Venice and Milan —
Isabella seeks to reconcile him with Lodovico Sforza —
The Marquis goes to Milan and is appointed captain-
general of the League — Visit of the Duke of Milan
to Mantua — Correspondence of Isabella with Lodovico
— Conquest of Milan by the French and flight of the
XX CONTENTS
PAGE
Duke — Louis XII. enters Milan — Isabella pays court
to the French — Receives the Milanese exiles — The
Moro's return and his final surrender at Novara 145-156
CHAPTER X
1497—1500
Isabella's literary and artistic interests — Foundation of the
Studio of the Grotta in the Corte Vecchia — Mantegna's
paintings for the Grotta — Cristoforo Romano comes to
Mantua — Works for the studio — His medal of Isabella
— Correspondence with Niccolo da Correggio — Leon-
ardo da Vinci visits Mantua — Draws Isabella's portrait
— Shows it to Lorenzo da Pavia at Venice — Isabella
intends to raise a monument to Virgil — JHer letter to
Jacopo d'Atri ..... 157-176
CHAPTER XI
1500—1502
Birth of Isabella's son Federico — Caesar Borgia his god-
father — Relations of the Gonzagas with him — Elisabetta
of Urbino goes to Rome — Letters of Sigismondo
Cantelmo — Comedies at Ferrara and Mantua — Treaty
of Granada and partition of Naples — Caesar Borgia con-
quers Romagna — Abdication and exile of Federico,
King of Naples — Betrothal of Alfonso d'Este to
Lucrezia Borgia — Preparations for the marriage in
Rome — II Prete's letters to Isabella — Wedding of
Lucrezia and her journey to Ferrara . . 177-197
CHAPTER XII
1502
Isabella presides at Lucrezia Borgia's marriage festivities —
Reception of the bride at Ferrara — Isabella's letters
to her husband — Comedies, balls, and fetes — The
ambassadors' gifts — Isabella entertains the French
ambassador — Her interview with the Venetian envoys
— Return to Mantua — Lucrezia Borgia's life at Ferrara
— Her relations with Isabella and the Marquis . 198-216
CONTENTS xxi
CHAPTER XIII
1502
Isabella's visit to Venice — Her letters to the Marquis —
Courtesy of the Doge and Signory — Her income and
expenditure — Proposed marriage between Federico
Gonzaga and Caesar Borgia's daughter — Elisabetta of
Urbino goes with Isabella to Porto — Casar Borgia
seizes Urbino— Flight of Duke Guidobaldo to Mantua
— Isabella asks for the Venus and Cupid of Urbino
Caesar Borgia sends them to Mantua — Michel Angelo's
Cupid sold to Charles I. and brought to England 217-234
CHAPTER XIV
1502—1503
Louis XII. at Milan — He receives the exiled princes and
the Marquis of Mantua — Caesar Borgia arrives at Milan
and concludes an agreement with the king — Isabella's
warnings to her husband — The Duke and Duchess of
Urbino forced to leave Mantua and take shelter at
Venice — Francesco Gonzaga goes to France — Isabella
governs Mantua — Her negotiations with Borgia re-
garding her son's marriage — Caesar's campaign in
Romagna — Treacherous murder of Vitellozza and his
companions — Isabella sends Valentino a present of
masks — Death of the Pope and sudden revolution in
Rome — Return of Duke Guidobaldo to Urbino — Elec-
tion of Pope Pius III. .... 235-257
CHAPTER XV
1503—1505
Death of Pius III. — Election of Julius II. — Return of
Elisabetta to Urbino — Caesar Borgia sent to Spain, and
his capture — Birth of Isabella's daughter Ippolita —
Francesco Gonzaga resigns his command of the French
xxii CONTENTS
PAGE
armies — Returns to Mantua — The French lose Naples —
Comedies at Urbino, Mantua, and Ferrara — Death of
Duke Ercole— Quarrels and plots of the Este brothers
■ — Marriage of Francesco Maria della Rovere and
Leonora Gonzaga — Sigismondo Gonzaga raised to the
Cardinalate— Letters of Emilia Pia— Castiglione and
Bembo — Death of Suor Osanna — A Dominican vicar-
general — Birth of Isabella's son Ercole. . 258-277
CHAPTER XVI
1505—1507
Isabella's visit to Florence — Mario Equicola's treatise, Nee
spe nee metu — Ravages of the plague at Mantua — Isa-
bella retires to Sacchetta with her family — Francesco
Gonzaga joins Pope Julius II. at Perugia — Conducts
the papal army against Bologna — Flight of the
BentivogU — Entry of the Pope — Letters of Isabella —
Frisio sends her antiques from Bologna — Birth of
Isabella's son Ferrante — Visit of Ariosto to Mantua —
Favour shown him by Isabella— Ariosto pays her a
splendid tribute in his Orlando Furioso . . 278-294
CHAPTER XVII
1507—1508
Louis XII. invites Francesco Gonzaga to help him in the
siege of Genoa — Visit of Isabella to Milan — Fetes in
the Castello — Isabella's correspondence with Elisabetta
Gonzaga — Her intended journey to France — Death
and funeral of the Duke of Urbino — Visit of Duke
Francesco Maria to Mantua — Birth of Isabella's
youngest daughter — Murder of Ercole Strozzi, and
death of Niccolo da Correggio — Rivalry of Isabella
and Lucrezia Borgia .... 295-316
CONTENTS xxiii
CHAPTER XVIII
1500—1506
PAQG
Isabella's relations with painters during the early years
of the sixteenth century — Her letters to Leonardo da
Vinci — Correspondence with Fra Pietro da Novellara,
Angelo del Tovaglia, Manfredi, and Amadori — She
asks Perugino for a painting for her studio — Descrip-
tion of the Triumph of Chastity composed by Paride
da Ceresara — Perugino's delays — Correspondence with
Malatesta, Tovagha, &c. ... 317-340
CHAPTER XIX
1501—1507
Isabella asks Giovanni Bellini for a picture — Her corre-
spondence with Lorenzo da Pavia and Michele Vianello
— The subject changed to a Nativity — Delays of the
painter — Isabella calls in Alvise Marcello — Asks for
her money to be returned — The picture is completed
and sent to Mantua in 1504 — Isabella's negotiations
with Giovanni Bellini through Pietro Bembo for
another picture, which is never painted . 341-361
CHAPTER XX
1504—1512
Mantegna's last works for Isabella d'Este — Illness and
debts — He appeals to Isabella for help, and sells her
his antique bust of Faustina — Calandra's description of
his Comus — Death of Mantegna and tribute of Lorenzo
da Pavia — Pictures in Andrea's workshop — The Comus
finished by Lorenzo Costa — Letters of Antonio
Galeazzo Bentivoglio to Isabella — The Triumph of
Poetry or Court of Isabella — Costa's portrait of the
Marchesa — Francia paints the portrait of her son
Federico and her own — Correspondence on the sub-
ject with Casio and Lucrezia Bentivoglio — Death of
Giorgione 362-392
Genealogical Tables .... 393
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Isabella D'Este Frontispiece
From the Charcoal Drawing by LEONARDO DA VlNCI,
in the Louvre {Photogravure)
LoDovico GoNZAGA AND His SoNS . . . To facc page 36
By Andeea Mantbgna
PoNTE San Giorgio, Castello e Duomo, Man-
TOVA ....... „ 70
The Death of the Virgin, with Mantua in
THE Background ..... « 90
By Andeea Mantegna
The Madonna della Vittoria, with the Kneeling
Figure of the Marquis Francesco . . „ 126
By Andrea Mantegna, 1495, in the Louvre
{Photogravure)
Parnassus ........ „ 158
From the Picture hy ANDREA MANTEGNA, in the
Louvre {Photogravure)
The Portrait Medal of Isabella D'Este , . „ 170
By Ceistoforo Eomano, from the Impression set in
Jewels, now in the Imperial Museum, Vienna
( Photogravure)
La Beata Osanna ...... „ 276
By F. BONSIGNOEI
Castello di Mantova ..... „ 362
ISABELLA D'ESTE
CHAPTER I
1474—1490
Birth of Isabella d'Este — Her betrothal to Francesco Gonzaga
Visit of the Mantuan envoy to Ferrara — Her letters to the
Marquis — Mantegna's Madonna — Elisabetta Gonzaga visits
Ferrara — Personal charms of Isabella — Her education and
teachers— Classical studies and love of music — Cultured tastes
of her parents— Music and art at their court — Cosimo Tura
and Ercole Roberti — Marriage of Isabella — Her reception at
Mantua.
" On the 18th of May 1474 a daughter was born to
Madonna Leonora and Duke Ercole, and she was
given the name of Isabella, and baptized by the
Bishop of Cyprus, the Venetian Ambassador in
Ferrara." ^
So a contemporary Ferrara diarist, whose chronicle
was pubhshed by Muratori, records the birth of Duke
Ercole's elder daughter, Isabella d'Este. The event
took place in the ancient palace on the Cathedral
square which had been the home of the Este
princes long before Bartolino da Novara reared the
massive waUs and crenellated towers of the Castello
Rosso at the close of the fourteenth century. There
Giotto and Petrarch had both been entertained as
the guests of princes who, even in those early days,
1 Muratori, Italicarum Rerum Scriptores, vol. xxiv. p. 250.
VOL. I. A
2 ERC01.E JJ Jj:bT±.
showed the love of art and letters that distinguished
this illustrious race. There PisaneUo and Piero della
Francesca painted at the Court of Duke Ercole's
elder brothers, Leonello and Borso, and the Venetian
master, Jacopo Bellini, introduced the picturesque
loggia of the old palace in the background of his
drawing of the Queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon.
Duke Ercole added the grand marble staircase of
the inner court, and the great haU where Ariosto's
comedies were performed, which was burnt down
just before the poet's death.
Three passions, says Frizzi, the historian of
Ferrara,^ ruled the Duke's heart, the love of building,
of the theatre, and of travel. All three were inherited,
in no small measure, by his daughter Isabella. But
the execution of Ercole's favourite plans was hindered
during the early part of his reign by frequent wars
and pohtical troubles. One night, when Isabella was
only two years old, and her brother Alfonso was
stUl an infant, the Duke's nephew, Niccolo d'Este,
suddenly attacked the palace at the head of a band of
armed conspirators, and Duchess Leonora and her
three children had barely time to escape by the covered
way into the Castello ; and before she was eight the
Venetian armies invaded her father's dominions, and
planted the Lion of St. Mark in the park of his viUa
at Belfiore, while the Duke himself lay at the point
of death in the Castello. All these dangers, how-
ever, were safely overcome by the valour and skilful
diplomacy of the Duke, loyally supported by his
brave wife and faithful subjects, and the treaty
concluded at Bagnolo in 1484 was followed by a long
period of peace and prosperity.
1 Storia di Ferrara, vol. iv.
BETROTHAL OF ISABELLA 3
Meanwhile, Isabella grew up under her good
mother's watchful eyes. When, in the summer of
1477, Leonora took her young family to visit her
old father. King Ferrante, at Naples, her three-year-
old daughter was already a fascinating child, and
her uncle Federico, afterwards King of Naples, was
heard to say that if she were not his niece he would
hke to make her his bride I At the old king's urgent
request, the Duchess consented to leave her younger
daughter Beatrice at her grandfather's court for the
next eight years, but brought Isabella back with her
to Ferrara. Three years afterwards the child-princess
was betrothed to young Giovanni Francesco Gonzaga,
the eldest son of Federico, Marquis of Mantua.
The two houses were already closely connected,
both by friendship and marriage. Leonello, the
accomphshed Duke, whose hooked nose and low
forehead are familiar to us in Pisanello's medals and
portraits, had married Federico 's aunt, Margherita
Gonzaga, and his own sister Lucia had been the wife
of Margherita's brother. Carlo Gonzaga. Margherita,
whose charming portrait, with its background of
columbines and butterflies, painted by PisaneUo at
the time of her wedding, is stUl preserved in the
Louvre, died in July 1439, only four years after her
marriage. But her brother, the Marquis Lodovico,
had proved a loyal friend to Duke Ercole, and had
refused to support his nephew Niccolo in his plot to
seize the Duchess and her children. His son and
successor, Federico, showed the same cordial feehng
for his neighbour, and paid several visits to Ferrara.
Early in April 1480, he sent his trusted servant,
Beltramino Cusatro, to propose a marriage between
his eldest son, a boy of fourteen, and the Duke's little
4 CHILDHOOD OF ISAJ3ii:i^i.A
daughter, Isabella, now a child of five years. Ercole,
who had good reason to fear the enmity of Venice,
and was the more anxious to strengthen his aUiance
with this near neighbour, gladly accepted his pro-
posals, and as soon as prehminary matters had been
arranged with the envoy, the Duke sent for his httle
daughter.
" Madonna Isabella," wrote Cusatro to his master,
" was then led in to see me, and I questioned her on
many subjects, to all of which she replied with rare
good sense and quickness. Her answers seemed
truly miraculous in a child of six, and although I
had already heard much of her singular intelligence,
I could never have imagined such a thing to be
possible."
A few days afterwards the envoy sent a portrait
of the youthful princess by Cosimo Tura, the Duke's
court-painter, to Mantua, with the following note:
" I send the portrait of Madonna Isabella, so that
Your Highness and Don Francesco may see her
face, but I can assure you that her marvellous
knowledge and intelUgence are far more worthy of
admiration."
The excellent impression which the httle bride
made upon Cusatro was confirmed by another Man-
tuan envoy, who informed the Marquis that he had
seen Madonna Isabella dance with her master Messer
Ambrogio, a Jew in the Duke of Urbino's service,
and that the grace and elegance of- her movements
were amazing in one of her tender age.^
On the Feast of St. George, always a great
day at the Court of Ferrara, another envoy arrived
from Duchess Bona of Milan, and her brother-
1 A. Luzio, / Preceitori d' Isabella d'Este, p. 12.
LETTERS TO FRANCESCO 5
in-law, the Regent Lodovico Sforza, asking for
Madonna Isabella's hand on behalf of the said Signor
Lodovico. Since, however, his elder daughter was
already betrothed, the Duke offered to give Lodovico
the hand of his younger daughter, Beatrice, with
the consent of her grandfather, the King of Naples,
who warmly approved of the Milanese alliance. So
on the 28th of May, the betrothal of the Duke's
two daughters was publicly proclaimed on the Piazza
in front of the CasteUo.
In the following spring, the Marquis of Mantua
brought his son Francesco to spend the Feast of St.
George at Ferrara, and make acquaintance with his
bride and her family. The Mantuan chronicler,
Schivenogha, relates how on this occasion the Mar-
quis and his suite of six hundred followers sailed
down the Po in four bucentaurs, how Duke Ercole,
in his anxiety to do his guests honour, fed the whole
party on lamb and veal and similar delicacies during
the four days which they spent in Ferrara, and how
his master's famous Barbary horses won the race, and
carried back the polio of cloth of gold in triumph to
Mantua. After this first meeting with her future
husband, Isabella frequently exchanged letters with
Francesco, who sent her presents and verses written
in her honour by the poets at his court. Some of
these formal little notes, in Isabella's own hand-
writing, are stiU preserved. Dr. Luzio teUs us, in the
Gonzaga Archives. On the 22nd of May 1483, the
httle princess writes from Modena, where the Duke's
children had been sent for safety during the war with
Venice, thanking Francesco for his inquiries after her
health. " Although when your letters and presents
reached me I was iU, their arrival has made me
6 LEONORA'S MADONNA
suddenly well. But when I heard that if I were
still suffering from illness Your Highness thought
of coming to Modena, to see me, I almost wished
myself ill again, if only to have the pleasure of
seeing you."^
A year later the Marquis Federico died, and Isabella
wrote to condole with Francesco on his father's death,
begging him to dry his tears and take comfort for her
sake. The new Marquis from the first showed him-
self an ardent lover, and neglected no opportunity of
paying attention to his bride's family. Hearing that
the Duchess of Ferrara was anxious to possess a cer-
tain Madonna by the hand of Andrea Mantegna, the
loyal servant and court-painter of the Gonzagas, he
wrote to that master on the 6th of November 1485,
enclosing Leonora's letter, and begging him to comply
with her request.
" Carissime noster. Our most illustrious Madonna
the Duchess of Ferrara, as you will see by the letters
which we enclose in order that you may the better
understand her wishes, is very anxious to have a
certain picture by your hand. We trust that you
wiU satisfy this lady, and use the utmost diligence to
finish the said picture, and beg of you to put forth
all your powers, as we feel sure you wiU do, and that
as quickly as possible, since we are most desirous to
gratify the said illustrious Madonna." Goito, Nov. 6,
1485.
On the same day Francesco wrote to his future
mother-in-law : —
" Hearing that Your Excellency desires to have a
picture of the Madonna with some other figures that
is stiU unfinished by the hand of Andrea Mantegna,
^ A. Luzio, I Precettori d' Isabella d'Este, p. 13.
ANDREA MANTEGNA 7
I have told him to finish it with the utmost care, and
hope to bring it with me, when I come, as I hope,
before long, to visit Your Illustrious Highness.
If not, I wiU send it you, as it is my greatest
pleasure to be able to do anything for you. To
whom I commend myself, praying that you may
fare well."
A week later, the impatient young Prince wrote
again to Mantegna on the subject : —
" Carissime noster. We wrote before to beg you to
finish a picture of the Madonna with other figures,
at the prayer of that illustrious Madonna the Duchess
of Ferrara, but do not know if you have yet put
your hand to the work, so now we repeat that you
must finish it as quickly as possible, seeing that we
greatly desire this thing, in order to be able to satisfy
the wish of the said lady as soon as possible." Goito,
Nov. 14, 1485.
Again on the 12th December he returned to the
charge : —
" We must remind you to lose no time in finishing
the picture which you have begun, and which we
wish to give the Duchess of Ferrara, and hope you
wUl use such dihgence that we may be able to pre-
sent it to her this Christmas, and we wiU take -care
that you are well rewarded, and that your labour is
not thrown away."
Mantegna did not fail to obey his young lord's
command, and on the 15th Francesco wrote as
follows : —
" We are sure that in finishing this picture you
wiU use such diligence as wUl do you honour, and
that it wiU bring you no small glory. And as
Lodovico of Bologna is going to Venice, you had
8 ELISABETTA GONZAGA
better see him about that varnish, if you have not
already spoken to him, that he may bring or send
you some without delay." ^
Leonora on her part wrote to express her joy not
only at the prospect of receiving Messer Andrea's
Madonna, but of seeing Francesco himself, and the
young Marquis met with a cordial welcome when
he reached Ferrara with his precious picture. Man-
tegna's Madonna was given a place among Leonora's
choicest treasures, and is mentioned in the inventory
of her pictures, taken after her death, as " a painting
on panel of Our Lady and her Son with seraphim,
by the hand of Mantegna." The picture now hangs
in the Brera, and its smiling cherub faces and glowing
tints are almost as fresh and fair as on the day on
which they left Andrea's workshop.
It is uncertain if Leonora herself brought her
daughter to visit her affianced husband at Mantua,
and there saw Mantegna at work on the great series
of Triumphs which he was painting for the Marquis,
but we know that, in February 1488, Francesco's
sister Ehsabetta visited Ferrara on her way to cele-
brate her marriage at Urbino, and received the rite
of confirmation from the Bishop of Ferrara in the
chapel of the ducal palace in the presence of the
Duke and Duchess and their family. There Isabella
met the sister-in-law who was to become her dearest
and closest friend, and the warm welcome which the
motherless young Princess received from the kind
Duchess Leonora, and the sisterly affection of the
Marchesana, were a great consolation to her in the
grief which she felt at parting from her brothers
1 Archivio Gonzaga, Copialettera, 126, quoted in Andrea Man-
tegna, by Paul Kristeller, App., p. 482.
ISABELLA'S EDUCATION 9
and sister and leaving the happy home of her child-
hood.^
By this time Isabella herself had reached the age
of fourteen, and was growing up a beautiful and
accompUshed maiden. She inherited her mother's
regular features, but, unlike her sister Beatrice, had
the fair hair and white skin which we see in Titian's
portrait at Vienna. According to Mario Equicola,
who spent many years in the Marchesa's service, her
eyes were black and sparkling, her hair yellow, and
her complexion one of dazzling briUiancy. Trissino,
the great Vicenza humanist, in his Ritratti, describes
the ripphng golden hair that flowed in thick masses
over her shoulders, recaUing Petrarch's hues, " Una
donna piil bella assai che'l sole ; " and teUs us that,
although only of middle height, she was remarkable
for the dignity of her carriage and stately grace of
her head and neck. But, as the Mantuan envoy told
his master, her gifts of mind were stiU more striking
than those of her person. Like other princesses of
the day, Isabella received a classical education, and
in after years acquired the reputation of speaking
the Latin tongue better than any woman of her age.
Battista Guarino, a son of the famous Verona scholar
who taught her uncle Duke LeoneUo, and lectured
in the University to the most distinguished students
in Italy, was her first teacher, and during the famine
of 1482 begged the Marquis of Mantua for a grant
of wheat, in order that he might the better instruct
Donna Isabella, "who is now," he adds, "thank
God, in perfect health, and learns with a marvellous
facihty far beyond her years." Guarino was suc-
ceeded by another tutor, Jacopo GaUino, who became
1 A. Luzio e E, Renierj Maniova e Urhino, p. l6.
10 HER LOVE OF MUSIC
fondly attached to his clever pupil, and often re-
minded the Marchesana in later years of the happy
days when they studied the grammar of Chrysolaraa
together, and she repeated the Eclogues of Virgil
and the Epistles of Cicero by heart, or construed
the iEneid with such rare grace and fluency. At
the same time the more womanly arts were not
neglected in Isabella's education. She learnt to
dance, as we have ah-eady seen, from her baby-
hood, and two bone needles and one gold needle,
for Madonna Isabella's embroidery, are found among
the entries in the household accounts of the ducal
family.^ At an early age she showed signs of the
musical tastes for which she was afterwards dis-
tinguished, and which she shared with the other
members of her (race/) Duke LeoneUo played the
guitar, and her own brother Alfonso was an excel-
lent viohnist and frequently took part in pubUc
performances. Duchess Leonora played the harp,
and both her daughters learnt the lute and clari-
chord. As a child, Isabella studied music under
Don Giovanni Martino, a German priest who had
been brought from Constance to train the singers
of the ducal chapel. After her marriage she had
many masters, and often said laughingly that she
was but a poor pupil, who did her teachers little
credit.^ But she had a beautiful voice, and accom-
panied herself on the lute with exquisite skiU; and
the favoured guests who were privileged to hear her
sing and play aU went away charmed. Many were
^ Registro de Mandati, c. 48, quoted by Luzio and Renier in
Giorn. St. d. Lett. It., vol. xxxvii. p. 2.
2 S. Davari, Musica in Mantova, Rivista Stor. Mants., i. 61;
Bertolotti, Musica alia Corte dei Gonzaga.
SCHOLARS AT FERRARA 11
the lines from Virgil and the sonnets of Petrarch
which Niccolo da Correggio or Pietro Bembo set to
music for her benefit, and Trissino declares that the
sweetness of her voice lured the Sirens from their
rocks, and charmed the wUd beasts and stones with
the magic of Orpheus.
But the atmosphere of culture and refinement in
which Isabella grew up helped to develop her powers
more than the teaching of any masters. Under the
rule of three accomphshed Dukes, Ferrara had become
a centre of art and learning. The foremost scholars and
the best poets were attracted to a court where Matteo
Boiardo wrote his Orlando Innamorato, and Francesco
BeUo, the blind improvisatore, charmed all men by
his poetic recitations. Above aU, Isabella had the
example of her own parents before her eyes. Duke
Ercole's youth had been spent at the court of Naples,
where he was sent after his father's death, and early
acquired distinction as a vahant soldier. But one
day, during a serious attack of illness, he happened to
read a translation of Quintus Curtius, which interested
him so deeply that from that time he devoted aU his
leisure hours to classical studies. When Lodovico
Sforza asked him for the loan of his translation of
DionySius Cassius he replied that he could not part
with the manuscript, which he read almost every day,
bufwould^have it copied for his son-in-law. Plutarch
and Xenophon, Euripides and Seneca were among
his favourite authors, and the comedies of Plautus
and Terence were translated into Italian verse and
acted at Ferrara under his direction. He added
largely to the ducal hbrary founded by his brother
Leonello and kept a careful register of all the books
which his friends borrowed. His wife Leonora had
12 PAINTERS AT THE COURT
a private collection of her own favourite authors,
which included many Italian versions of French and
Breton romances, of Spanish tales such as // Career
(T Amove, which she brought with her from Naples,
and of Pliny's "Letters" and Caesar's "Commentaries,"
as well as the Fioretti of St. Francis and the De Con-
solatione of Boethius.
From her birth, Isabella was surrounded by the
finest works of art. The walls of her mother's rooms
were covered with paintings by the best Flemish and
ItaUan masters ; a crucifix by Jacopo Bellini hung
over her father's writing desk. The frescoes of
PisaneUo and Piero deUa Francesca, the medals of
Sperandio, the richest tapestries and the finest
majolica from Faenza and Urbino adorned the
palaces and viUas of Ferrara. Much of Isabella's
childhood was spent in her father's favourite country
house, the Schifanoia or Sans Souci of the Este
princes, which the Ferrarese master Cosimo Tura
and his followers had decorated with a famous series
of hunting and pastoral subjects. And during these
years architects and painters were continually at
work both in the Castello and in the beautiful villa
of Belriguardo on the banks of the Po, which was
said to contain as many rooms as days in the year.
The chapel was decorated with frescoes by Cosimo
Tura, who also, in his capacity of court-painter,
executed the portraits of Isabella and Beatrice for
their affianced husbands. When, in 1487, Cosimo
became too old and infirm for his work, another
excellent Ferrara painter, Ercole Roberti, originally
the son of a porter in the Castello, took his place
and was employed to decorate the new haUs which the
Duke had lately built at Belriguardo. A new chapel
MARB-IAGE OF LUCREZIA 13
was also added to the Castello, and amongst the
works of art which adorned its walls was a stucco
group by a Ferrara sculptor representing the Duchess
with her daughter Isabella kneeling on a brocade
cushion at her feet.^
Thus, from early youth, Isabella not only learnt
how to appreciate the finest art, but to see the en-
hghtened patronage which her parents bestowed alike
on native and foreign masters. She heard her father
discuss with keen interest the latest plans for the
decoration of viUas and churches, and watched Italian
and Spanish embroiderers at work under her mother's
superintendence. She saw Duke Ercole's Italian
version of the Mencechmi, and her cousin Niccolo da
Correggio's pastoral romance of Cefalo acted on a
stage fitted up in the old Palazzo della Ragione.
She met the most brilliant men and women of the
day at her father's table, and heard the best con-
versation and the most refined criticism from their
lips. And she grew up a charming and graceful
maiden, adored by her parents and teachers and
beloved by all around her.
In 1487,. the Duke's illegitimate daughter Lucrezia
was married to Count Annibale, a son of Giovanni
BentivogUo, lord of Bologna, and Francia, the famous
goldsmith of that city, who often worked for Leonora,
was employed to design the gold and silver credenza
or dinner-service used on this occasion, with lamps
encrusted with flowers and fohage, and goblets
studded with precious gems. The marriage of
Isabella, who was three years younger than her
half-sister, was delayed for a time. The Duke and
1 Gustave Gruyer, L'Art Ferrarais a I'epoque des Princes d'Este,
vol. ii. p. 136.
14 ISABELLA'S TROUSSEAU
Duchess were reluctant to part from their beloved
child, and wished the wedding of their two daughters
to take place at the same time. But Lodovico Sforza
showed little inchnation to fix the date of his
marriage, while Francesco Gonzaga pressed his suit
eagerly, and Leonora finally agreed that Isabella's
wedding should take place in the spring of 1490,
before she had completed her sixteenth year. Great
preparations were made both at Mantua and Ferrara
for the coming event. AU through the year painters,
carvers, and goldsmiths were engaged in preparing
the bride's trousseau, under her mother's watchful
eye. Early in 1489 ^ Ercole Roberti was sent to
Venice, to buy gold-leaf and ultramarine for the
decoration of the wedding chests. On his return
he painted thirteen cassoni, for which he employed
eleven thousand gold leaves, and designed the nuptial
bed, as weU as a magnificent chariot and gilded
bucentaur which the Duke presented to his daughter.
The tapestries and hangings for her rooms were
made in Venice, seals and buttons and silver boxes
for her use were engraved by Ferrarese artists, and
a portable silver altar, richly chased and embossed,
together with ornaments and office-books to match,
were ordered from the skilled Milanese goldsmith
Fra Rocco. The girdle or majestate, worn by royal
brides and elaborately worked in gold and silver, was
also ordered from Fra Rocco, who devoted many
months to the task, and received 600 ducats from
the Duke. No less than 2000 ducats were paid
him for a similar belt which he made the next year
for Beatrice, and which is described by contemporaries
as a stiU greater marvel of workmanship. Isabella's
1 Gruyer, op. cit., ii. 153.
HER MARRIAGE 15
dowry had been fixed at 25,000 ducats, while her
trousseau was valued at 2000 ducats, and the jewels
and other costly objects given her by the Duke
were held to be worth another 3000, so that the
whole of her marriage portion and outfit did not
exceed 30,000 ducats, a modest fortune compared
to her mother's dowry of 80,000 ducats and the
150,000 ducats that were settled on her sister-in-law
Anna Sforza.
The wedding was celebrated at Ferrara on the
11th of February 1490, and after the ceremony in
the ducal chapel, the bride rode through the streets
of the city in her fine new chariot draped with cloth
of gold, with the Duke of Urbino on horseback on
her right and the Ambassador of Naples on her
left. The banquet which followed was one of
the most sumptuous ever held in the CasteUo
of Ferrara. The walls of the Sala Grande were
hung with the Arras tapestries brought from Naples
by Duchess Leonora, including the " Queen of
Sheba's Visit to Solomon," and six pieces known as
" La PastoureUe," worked by hand in gold and silver
and coloured silks of exquisite dehcacy. These
priceless hangings originally came to Naples with
Queen Joan, and it was said that Flemish workers
had been employed upon them during more than
a _ hundred years. The Este princes held the
tapestries among their choicest possessions and only
used them on great occasions ; and in after years
they excited the admiration of the Emperor Charles
V. when he visited Reggio as the guest of Alfonso
d'Este, and insisted "on examining each piece sepa-
rately by torchhght. The magnificent dinner-service
used at Isabella's wedding had been made in Venice
16 ENTRY INTO MANTUA
by a renowned goldsmith, Giorgio da Ragusa, from
Cosimo Tura's designs. Crystal flagons and dishes
of gold and enamel were supported by griffins and
satyrs, dolphins and satyrs, the handles of golden
bowls and cornucopias laden with fruit were adorned
with genii or the eagles of the house of Este, while
two hundred and fifty Httle banners, painted by
Ferrara artists with the Este and Gonzaga arms,
adorned the temples and pyramids of gilt and
coloured sugar that were a triumph of the con-
fectioner's art.-^
On the following day the wedding party set out
in the richly carved and gilded bucentaur, attended
by four galleys and fifty boats, for Mantua, and
sailed up the Po. The bride was accompanied by
her parents, with their three young sons, Alfonso,
Ferrante, and the future Cardinal Ippolito, as well
as by her cousins, Alberto d'Este, Niccolo and Borso
da Correggio, and a hundred chosen courtiers, who
escorted her to the gates of Mantua. On the 15th
of February she made her triumphal entry into
the city, riding between the Marquis and the Duke
of Urbino, and followed by the Ambassadors of
France, Naples, Milan, Venice, Florence, Genoa,
Pisa, and other Itahan States. The loyal citizens
of Mantua hailed their young Marchesana with
enthusiasm, and it is said that as many as 17,000
spectators were assembled in the town that day.
The streets were hung with brocades and garlands
of flowers. At the Porta PradeUa a choir of white-
robed children welcomed the bride with songs and
recitations. At the Ponte S. Jacopo, on the Piazza
in front of Alberti's church of S, Andrea, at the
1 Gruyer, op. cit., ii. 83.
WEDDING FESTIVITIES 17
gates of the park, and on the drawbridge of the
Castello, pageants and musical entertainments were
prepared in her honour. At one point the seven
planets and nine ranks of angehc orders welcomed
her coming, and a fair boy with angel wings recited
an epithalamium composed for the occasion at the
foot of the grand staircase of the Castello di Corte.
There Elisabetta Gonzaga received the bride, and
the princely guests sat down to a banquet in the
state rooms, while the immense crowds assembled
on the Piazza outside were feasted at the pubhc
expense, and the fountains and cisterns ran with
wine. The Marquis had borrowed large stores of
gold and silver plate, of carpets and hangings from
all his friends and kinsfolk. Giovanni Bentivoglio,
Marco Pio of Carpi, the Gonzagas of Bozzolo, and
many of Isabella's relatives had placed their treasures
at his disposal for the occasion, and his brother-in-
law, Duke Guidobaldo, had lent him the famous
tapestries of the Trojan war, which were the glory
of the palace of Urbino. The festivities were pro-
longed until the last day of the carnival. Tourna-
ments and dances and torchUght processions fol-
lowed each other in rapid succession, and each day
a fresh banquet was spread on tables in the Piazza,
and confetti, representing cities, castles, churches,
and animals in endless variety, were distributed to
the dehghted populace.^
Only one thing was wanting to complete the
splendour of the festival. This was the presence of
Andrea Mantegna, the great master who had spent
thirty years in the service of the Gonzagas, and
whose genius was so highly esteemed by the young
1 D'Arco, Notisie d' Isabella Estense, p. 31.
VOL. I. B
18 MANTEGNA'S ABSENCE
Marquis. In June 1488, Francesco had given him
leave to go to Rome, at the earnest request of Pope
Innocent VIII., who employed him to paint his new
chapel of the Belvedere. The artist, however, was
not happy at the Vatican, and complained bitterly in
his letters to the Marquis of the irregular payments
and indifferent treatment which he received from the
Pope, declaring that he was a child of the house of
Gonzaga, and wished to live and die in their service.
He was uneasy too about his unfinished Triumphs
in the Castello of Mantua, and begged the Marquis
to see that the rain did not come in through the
windows and damage these canvases, which were his
best and most perfect works. Francesco replied in a
friendly letter, assuring him that his Triumphs were
perfectly safe, and wrote again at Christmas 1489,
begging the painter to return as soon as possible,
since his help was indispensable in preparing the
pageants and decorations for the wedding. But the
messenger who brought the letter found Andrea ill
in bed and the Pope's frescoes unfinished, and the
Marquis was forced to celebrate his marriage without
the presence of his favourite painter.
CHAPTER II
1328—1478
The court of Mantua and house of Gonzaga — Gianfrancesco II.,
the first Marquis — Vittorino da Feltre and the Casa Zoiosa —
Cecilia Gonzaga — Reign of Lodovico Gonzaga and Barbara of
Brandenburg — Their patronage of art and learning — Marri-
age of Federico to Margaret of Bavaria — Betrothal of Dorotea
Gonzaga to Galeazzo Sforza- — Frescoes of the Camera degli
Sposi.
Mantua, which now became the home of Isabella
d'Este, was a comparatively small city. The popu-
lation only numbered 28,000, and the domains of the
Marquis Francesco were both poorer and smaller than
the Duchy of Ferrara. But under the rule of the
Gonzaga family this little state had already acquired
an important position in North Italy. Since the hard-
fought day in 1328, when Lodovico Gonzaga defeated
the rival family of the Buonacolsi, and was chosen cap-
tain of the people, and afterwards appointed Vicar-
General by the Emperor, Mantua had rapidly increased
in power and prosperity. His successors not only won
the love of their subjects by their wise and paternal
government, but by their hereditary valour and
skilful diplomacy succeeded in maintaining their
independence against their two powerful neighbours,
Venice and Milan, There was less splendour and
luxury at the court of Mantua than at Ferrara, but
the Gonzagas showed as genuine a love of art and
learning as the princes of the house of Este.
Gianfrancesco I., the fourth prince of his race to bear
20 THE GONZAGA PRINCES
sway in Mantua, employed Bartolino da Novara, the
architect of the Castello Rosso of Ferrara, to build
the strong Castello, with the four massive towers at
each angle, overlooking the lakes formed by the
waters of the Mincio, on the east side of the city.
He also rebuilt the old bridge of San Giorgio, which
crosses the Lago di Mezzo opposite the CasteUo, and
the fine Lombard-Gothic Duomo on the neighbour-
ing Piazza di San Pietro, which Giuho Romano
transformed into a late Renaissance building in the
reign of Isabella d'Este's grandson. The same
prince paid a visit to the south of France in 1389,
and during his residence in that country added sixty-
seven French books to his library, which at his death
numbered 400 volumes.^
Gianfrancesco II., who succeeded his father in
1407, was raised to the dignity of Marquis when the
Emperor Sigismund visited Mantua in 1433. This
wise and enlightened prince strengthened the fortifi-
cations of the city, drained the neighbouring marshes,
and did his best to encourage agriculture, and the
manufacture of cloth, which remained the staple
industry of Mantua until the sack of 1630. Like
most of the Gonzaga princes, he served the rival
States of Venice and Milan alternately, but was a
liberal patron of learning, and attracted the best
foreign artists to his court. BruneUesco came to
Mantua twice, in 1432 and in 1436, to give him advice
as to the construction of dykes. Alberti, the dis-
tinguished architect, dedicated his "Treatise on
Painting " to him, and even that greedy and querulous
humanist, Filelfo, extolled him as the most generous
of patrons. His excellent wife, Paola Malatesta,
1 W. Braghirolli in Romania, ] 880.
VITTORINO DA FELTRE 21
shared his cultured tastes, and trained her numerous
sons and daughters in habits of virtue and piety. To
her even more than to her husband was due the
choice of Vittorino da Feltre as tutor to the Gon-
zaga princes. This remarkable man became renowned
among living scholars, not only for his knowledge of
Greek, but for the high ideal of education which he
held up before the age. In his eyes there was no
loftier mission than that of the schoolmaster, and aU
his powers were devoted to this high caUing. The
Casa Zoiosa or Maison Joyeuse, where he settled in
1425, at Gianfrancesco's invitation, close to the
CasteUo, soon became famous throughout Italy.
Here, in these fair halls, on the banks of the lake,
adorned with frescoes and surrounded with avenues
of plane trees and acacias, the high-born youths and
maidens in Vittorino's charge received that complete
training of body and mind which he held to be the
best preparation for hfe. He began by making a
few necessary reforms. His pupils' superfluous ser-
vants were dismissed, the use of gold and silver plate
and of highly spiced dishes at their table was pro-
hibited, and simple but abundant fare was provided.
All swearing and bad language was forbidden, lying
was treated as the blackest of crimes, good manners
were especially encouraged, and Church festivals and
fasts were strictly observed, since in Vittorino's eyes
true learning was inseparable from virtue and re-
ligion. His course of instruction included Latin and
Greek, mathematics, grammar, logic, philosophy,
music, singing and dancing, and the hours of
study were pleasantly varied by games at palla in the
meadows along the Mincio, and shooting, swimming,
and fencing matches, as well as occasional fishing and
22 THE CASA ZOIOSA
hunting expeditions. He began by reading carefully
chosen selections from Virgil and Cicero, Homer and
Demosthenes aloud to his scholars, explaining the
meaning as he went along, and made them learn these
passages by heart as the best way of forming their
style. Afterwards he laid down a few simple rules for
their guidance in composition, teUing them to be sure,
first of all, that they had something to say, and then
to see that they said it frankly and simply, avoiding
the subtleties of the schools. " I want to teach my
pupils how to think," he said, "not to split hairs."
Vittorino himself always paid special attention to
backward pupils, and received many poor scholars
who could not afford to pay the usual fees, teaching
them, as he said, " for the love of God." On summer
days he often took his scholars to a small country
house on the height of Andes or Pietola, the birth-
place of Virgil, which was the only property that he
ever acquired, and told them stories of Perseus and
Hercules, while they rested on the grass after their
games ; and once or twice in the season more distant
expeditions were made to the shores of the Lake of
Garda or the Alps of Tyrol.^
Soon the fame of Vittorino's gymnasium brought
him pupils from all parts of Italy. One of these
was Federico di Montefeltro, the great and good
Duke of Urbino, who placed his beloved teacher's
portrait in his palace, with the following inscrip-
tion : "In honour of his saintly master Vittorino da
Feltre, who by word and example instructed him in
all human excellence, Federico has set this here."
Lodovico Gonzaga, the eldest of Gianfrancesco's
1 Vittorino da Feltre, Prendilacqua ; Benoit, Vittorin de Feltre;
S. Paglia in Archivio Storico Lombardo, xi. 150.
CECILIA GONZAGA 23
sons, retained the deepest respect for his master all
through his life, and after he succeeded his father as
Marquis, would never sit down in his old teacher's
presence. His brothers Gianlucido and Alessandro,
who were cut off from public Mfe by a spinal disease
which they inherited from their mother Paola, found
their best consolation in hterary pursuits, and Gian-
lucido is said to have known the whole of Virgil
by heart. Their sister Margherita charmed her
cultured husband, Duke LeoneUo d'Este, by the
elegance of her Latin letters, and he wrote to teU
her how much he rejoiced to think that she enjoyed
the advantage of Vittorino's instruction, being per-
suaded that for " virtue, learning, and a rare and
excellent way of teaching good manners," this master
surpassed all others. But the most accomplished
of Vittorino's pupils was the Marquis's youngest
daughter, CeciUa Gonzaga. At eight years she read
the works of Chrysostom, and amazed learned visitors
to Casa Zoiosa by the ease with which she recited
Latin verse. As she grew up her charms and sweet-
ness of nature captivated young and old, but trouble
arose when her hand was sought by Odd' Antonio di
Montefeltro, the elder brother of Federico, who, un-
hke him, was a prince of notoriously bad character.
In vain Cecilia pleaded her wish to take the veil and
devote herself to a life of contemplation, and the
papal protonotary Gregorio Correr, who, as Abbot
of S. Zeno of Verona, employed Mantegna to paint
his noble triptych in that church, dedicated to her
his treatise De Fugiendo Scecuh. Her father was
bent on the marriage, and punished Ceciha with
blows and imprisonment. At length Paola's tears
and Vittorino's remonstrances brought the Marquis
24 BARBARA VON BRANDENBURG
to a better mind, and with his sanction Cecilia
entered the convent of Corpus Domini, a community
of Poor Clares founded by her mother, who came to
end her own days there, after Gianfrancesco's death in
1444. When Pisanello visited Mantua three years
afterwards, he designed the beautiful medal inscribed
with the words Cecilia Virgo, showing on one side
a profile portrait of her deUcate and refined features,
and on the other her seated figure, with the crescent
moon and unicorn as emblems of her maidenhood.
Four years after this she died, before she was quite
twenty-five.^
Vittorino's good offices were exerted on behalf of
another of his pupUs, Lodovico Gonzaga, who in a fit
of anger at seeing his younger brother Carlo pre-
ferred to him, fled to the camp of FiUppo Visconti,
Duke of Milan, and took up arms against his father.
Gianfrancesco vowed that he would disinherit this
undutiful son, and it was only at the end of three
years, in deference to Paola and Vittorino's entreaties,
that he consented to a reconciliation and pubhcly re-
cognised Lodovico as his heir. MeanwhUe the young
prince's little German bride, Barbara von Branden-
burg, was growing up in his mother's charge, and
profiting by Vittorino's instructions. The marriage
had been arranged by the Emperor Sigismund when
he visited Mantua in 1433, and that autumn an
escort of 200 Mantuan courtiers was sent to Augs-
burg to bring back the ten-year-old princess, with a
golden chariot drawn by four horses, and a robe of
gold brocade so stiff and splendid that the German
ladies exclaimed " it stood up of itself ! " Soon after
Lodovico's return, in 1440, the marriage was solem-
1 Paglia, op. cit. ; Pastor, " History of the Popes," i. 46.
LITERARY TASTES OF LODOVICO 25
nised, and Barbara proved the best of wives and
mothers and the most admirable helpmeet to her
husband during the thirty-four years of his long
reign.^
Amidst the cares of state and perils of war,
Lodovico did not forget the lessons which he had
learnt in the Casa Zoiosa, and whUe, as captain of
the Florentine and Milanese armies, he proved his
valour on many a hard-fought field, he ruled his
people wisely and well, and showed a zeal for
learning and an enlightened love of art worthy of
Vittorino's scholar. Mindful of the happy days
when he and his comrades played together in the
fields of Pietola, he collected all the manuscripts of
VirgU that he could obtain, and Platina, whom he
employed to revise the text, wrote a poem called
"The Dream of the Marquis," in which Virgil
returns from the Elysian fields and begs Lodovico
to complete his great work and purge his text from
the errors of the copyists. Petrarch and Dante were
as dear to him as the classical poets. He employed
artists to Uluminate the ^neid and Divina Corn-
media, and a richly illustrated MS. of the Filocolo
of Boccaccio from his collection, bearing the black
eagles and lions of the Gonzagas, is now preserved in
the Bodleian Library at Oxford. One autumn, when
he was taking the baths at Petriolo, he begged his wife
to send him his St. Augustine, Quintus Curtius and
Lucan, which had been left behind at Mantua.
Another time he borrowed Borso d'Este's precious
Codex of Phny, while his wife begged the Duke to
lend her S. Caterina of Siena's prayers. Lodovico
1 B. Hoffmann, Barbara von Hohensollem Markgrafin von Mantua;
P. Kristeller in Hohensollem Jahrbuch, 1899, P- QG, &c.
26 ART AT HIS COURT
was also much interested in natural history, and
made a valuable collection of books with illustrations
of birds and animals. Under his patronage a printing-
press was set up in Mantua, and Boccaccio's De-
camerone was the first book published there in 1473.
The decoration of his capital was another object
to which this admirable prince devoted his best
attention. At his invitation Alberti paid repeated
visits to Mantua, and designed the chapel of the
Incoronata in the Duomo, and the churches of S.
Sebastian and S. Andrea. This last church, which
was founded in 1472, to receive the sacred blood said
to have been brought to Mantua by the centurion
Longinus, was justly admired as one of the earliest
and most successful examples of ecclesiastical archi-
tecture in the classical style. Alberti's designs were
mostly carried out by Luca Fancelli, another Tuscan
architect, who entered Lodovico's service in 1450,
and built or improved the beautiful ducal viUas at
Goito, Cavriana, Gonzaga, and Revere, which are so
often mentioned in Isabella d'Este's letters. The
best sculptors and painters were employed by
Lodovico to decorate these sumptuous country
houses. Pisanello adorned a hall in the Castello
with frescoes, and remained at Mantua until he
received an imperious summons from Leonello
d'Este, threatening him with the forfeiture of all
his property in Ferrara if he did not return imme-
diately. DonateUo spent nearly two years at Mantua,
where he executed the noble bronze bust of Lodovico,
now at Berhn, and began the Area of St. Anselm in
the Duomo. The Marquis often employed the great ■
Florentine sculptor to send him antiques, but com-
plained bitterly how difficult it was to induce him to
ANDREA MANTEGNA 27
finish anything. He was more fortunate with Man-
tegna, who, after repeated and urgent invitations,
at length came to Mantua in the summer of 1459,
and remained there untU his death, half-a-century
later.
That love of antiquity with which Vittorino had
inspired him in early youth, and which he admired
in Alberti's architectural designs, first led him to
appreciate the genius of this great Paduan master,
who was animated with the true classical spirit. He
treated Andrea with unalterable kindness, gave him
a hberal salary of fifteen ducats a month, with
supphes of com, wood, wine, and lodgings for his
family, and bore patiently with the irritable master's
frequent complaints against the tailor who had spoilt
his new coat, or the neighbour who had robbed his
orchard of five hundred quinces. And when in the
last years of his reign the treasury was exhausted
by a long war, and the plague was raging in Mantua,
the good Marquis rephed to Andrea's bitter re-
proaches in the following noble and kindly letter:
" Andrea," he wrote from Goito, " we have re-
ceived a letter from you which it reaUy seems to us
that you need not have written, since we perfectly
remember the promises we made when you entered
our service, neither, as it seems to us, have we
failed to keep these promises or to do our utmost
for you. But you cannot take from us what we
have not got, and you yourself have seen that, when
we have had the means, we have never failed to do
aU in our power for you and our other servants,
and that gladly and with good wiU. It is true that,
since we have not received our usual revenues during
the last few months, we have been obliged to defer
28 VIRTUES OF BARBARA
certain payments, such as this which is due to you,
but we are seeking by every means in our power to
raise money to meet our obhgations, even if we are
forced to mortgage our own property, since all our
jewels are already pawned, and you need not fear
but that before long, your debt will be paid gladly
and readily."^
In the government of his people and in the ad-
ministration of his affairs Lodovico was ably assisted
by his excellent wife Barbara, the HohenzoUern
princess who, leaving her own land at so early an
age, brought the sohd and domestic virtues of the
Teutonic race to blend with the refined tastes of
the Gonzagas. A prudent housewife and devoted
mother, she watched over the education of her chil-
dren with unwearied care. When Platina, who be-
came her son Federico's tutor, after the death of
Vittorino in 1446, was sent on a journey to Greece,
she looked out at once for another master, saying it was
a pity the boy should waste his time ; and when his
successor, Filelfo, complained that Federico was lazy
and indifferent, and had no real love of books, she
counselled patience, and remarked that he would
probably develop later. Under her vigilant eye no
foolish luxury or wasteful expenditure was allowed.
A refined simplicity marked the daily life of the court,
and display was reserved for state occasions. At
the same time Barbara took a lively interest in the
welfare of her husband's subjects. She encouraged
the cloth manufacture by her example and influence,
and large quantities of this fabric were yearly ex-
ported to Germany. When her sister, Queen Doro-
1 Archivio Go?i3aga, lib. 86, quoted by A. Baschet, Gazette des
Beaux Arts, 1866.
COUNCIL OF MANTUA 29
thea of Denmark, visited Mantua in 1475, a great fair
was held in her honour, and as many as 5000 pieces
of cloth were offered for sale.
Barbara's love for her adopted country did not
weaken the ties which bound her to her old German
home. She kept up an active correspondence with
her kinsfolk beyond the Alps, and entertained her
father the Elector John and her uncle the Margrave
Albert of Brandenburg repeatedly at Mantua. Her
third and favourite son, the tall and handsome Gian-
francesco, was sent to be educated under the Mar-
grave's eye at Anspach, while Rodolfo, her fourth
son, the gallant soldier who afterwards fell at Fornovo,
completed his knightly training at the court of Charles
the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. But the proudest day
of Barbara's hfe was that of the opening of the Gene-
ral Council which Pope Pius II. summoned to meet
at Mantua in 1459. It was Albert of Brandenburg
who, at Barbara's suggestion, had advised the Pope
to choose Mantua for the meeting of this Council,
which was to restore peace to Christendom and pro-
claim a crusade against the Turk. Only England,
distracted by the Wars of the Hoses, and Scotland,
" buried in the far northern seas," sent no answer to
the Pope's appeal. Princes and ambassadors arrived
from all parts of Italy and Germany. Pius II.
and his eight Cardinals, Francesco Sforza, Duke of
Milan, Albert of Brandenburg, and Duke Sigismund
of Austria were among the guests who were enter-
tained in the CasteUo. The Pope, who spent four
months at Mantua, was greatly^^ impressed by the
noble character of the Marchioness, whom he de-
scribed in one of his letters as " distinguished among
aU other matrons of the age by her shining graces of
30 A BAVARIAN BRIDE
body and mind." Two years afterwards, he gratified
Barbara's fondest wish by bestowing a Cardinal's hat
on her second son Francesco, a boy of seventeen,
who was still studying at the University of Pavia.
Her maternal pride was equally pleased when, in
1462, the Emperor Frederick II. arranged a mar-
riage for her eldest son Federico with Margaret,
daughter of Duke Sigismund of Bavaria. But the
bad manners and rude habits of the German envoys,
who came to Mantua to draw up the marriage con-
tract, shocked the Italians, who declared that they
behaved hke cooks and scuUions ; and Federico, who
is said to have been in love with another maiden,
fled to Naples rather than marry this foreign bride.
For several months nothing was heard of him, but
at last he was discovered by King Ferrante, living in
a destitute condition under an assumed name in the
poor quarters of the city, and some time passed
before his mother could induce him to return home
and crave his father's forgiveness. In March 1463,
Gianfrancesco and Rodolfo Gonzaga were sent to
bring home the bride, who entered Mantua in state
on the 7th of June. The chronicler Schivenogha,
who was Federico's secretary, evidently shared his
master's dislike for the Germans, and describes the
bride as short of stature, blonde and plump, and
unable to speak a word of Itahan ; while her atten-
dants were clad in coarse red clothes of ugly shape
and colour. " As to their customs and manners," he
adds significantly, " I will say nothing." i Margaret
herself, however, soon learnt to appreciate the refine-
ment of Italian manners, and when some years later
she paid a visit to her old home took a troop of
^ A. Schivenoglia, Cronaca di Mantova, 1445-1484.
DEFORMITY OF THE GONZAGAS 31
richly attired singers and minstrels with her to
Bavaria. We hear httle else of Federico's bride,
who had neither the vigorous character of the
Marchesa Barbara nor the beauty and charm which
made Isabella d'Este famous. But she was a good
wife and mother, and her placid, gentle face, framed
in a quaintly peaked, pearl-trimmed cap, bearing the
Greek motto Amomos — spotless — may stiU be seen
carved in low rehef on a block of Carrara marble
which once adorned the portals of the Gonzaga
viUa at Revere, and is now in the Academy of
Mantua.
A worse trouble befeU Lodovico and Barbara in
the terrible affliction of their two elder daughters,
Susanna and Dorotea, both of whom inherited the
deformity which afflicted Paola Malatesta in her
latter years. When Susanna, who had been be-
trothed as a chUd to Galeazzo Maria, the eldest son
of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, grew up hunch-
backed, her younger sister's, name was substituted in
the marriage contract. But soon it became rumoured
abroad that Dorotea, although a fair and attractive
maiden, had one shoulder higher than the other, and
before the wedding took place, the Duke demanded
a medical certificate of her state of health. Rather
than comply with this insulting condition, Lodovico
broke off the negotiations and resigned his own
appointment as captain of the Milanese forces. Both
Galeazzo, who seems to have been really attached
to his affianced bride, and his mother. Duchess
Bianca, who was a personal friend of Barbara,
endeavoured to reopen communications. But the
Marquis dechned aU further correspondence on the
subject, and in May 1465, refused the Duke's in vita-
32 DOROTEA MEETS GALEAZZO
tion to attend the wedding of his daughter Ippolita
with the King of Naples's son, Alfonso, Duke of
Calabria. When, however, the newly wedded pair
were on their way to Naples, the Marquis and his
family met them at Reggio, and Dorotea saw her
old lover again. The minute directions which Bar-
bara gave her son Federico on this occasion prove
that she had not yet abandoned all hopes of the
marriage.
" We do not yet know," she wrote on the 14th of
June, " whether Signor Galeazzo will be present, but
if he should come to Reggio, I think it well to warn
you how to behave. First of all, as soon as you see
the Milanese party approach, you and your wife must
dismount and advance to meet them with out-
stretched hands and courteous reverence. Be care-
ful not to bend your knee before them, but salute
the illustrious Duke and Duchess, and shake hands
with Filippo and Lodovico, and also with Galeazzo,
if he is present and offers to shake hands. Dorotea
must also give him her hand and curtsey to him, but
if he does not come forward let her not move a step.
Then we will take the Duchess up in our chariot,
and you must all three of you pay her reverence,
Dorotea must either wear her camora of black and
silver brocade, or her crimson or gold-embroidered
one, whichever of the three she chooses. Your wife
may shake hands with the princes or not, as she
pleases, for in her condition whatever she does will
be excused. But I hope you will take a Uttle
trouble in the matter, and explain all this clearly to
Dorotea, and see that she makes no mistake. If w
could be present at the interview, I would not
trouble you, but I fear our chariot may be delayed
LODOVICO'S DAUGHTERS 33
and we may arrive too late to receive the Milanese
princes." ^
The meeting passed off happily, and Barbara
wrote to her absent son, Cardinal Francesco, saying
that Dorotea had played her part well, and that
Galeazzo had treated her with marked attention.
Early in the next year the Duke of Milan died, and
Galeazzo's first act was to renew his suit. Already
the prehminaries of the contract were drawn up,
when Dorotea fell suddenly iU of fever, and died in
a few days. Ill-natured persons said that the new
Duke had poisoned his bride to be rid of the bargain,
but Galeazzo himself expressed the deepest grief,
and after his marriage to Bona of Savoy brought his
wife to stay at Mantua.
Two of Lodovico's remaining daughters married
German princes, one of whom, the Count von Gortz,
treated his wife so badly that she came back to
Mantua a year after her marriage, while the other,
Barbara, became, in 1474, the spouse of Count Eber-
hard von Wiirtemberg, the founder of the University
of Tiibingen.
Fortunately aU Lodovico's sons grew up tall and
strong. Three of them were vahant soldiers, who dis-
tinguished themselves in the service of the Pope and
the King of Naples, while the youngest, Lodovico,
born in 1458, became Bishop of Mantua, and his
brother. Cardinal Francesco, rose to still higher dis-
tinction in the Church. This young ecclesiastic was
a refined connoisseur, and early showed his passion
for music and antiques. When, after his appoint-
1 Stefano Davari, // Matrimonio di Dorotea Gonzaga ; Paul Kris-
teller, Barbara von Brandenburg, Hohenzollern Jahrbuch, vol. iii.
p. 66, &c.
VOL. I. C
34 CARDINAL FRANCESCO
merit as papal legate in 1472, he stayed at the baths
of Porretta, in the Apennines, on his return from
Rome, to recruit his health, he sent his father the
following letter, begging that the painter Mantegna
and the musician Malagista might be sent to keep
him company : —
"Most honoured and illustrious Father, — I hope
to arrive at Bologna on the 5th or 6th of August, but
shall not stay there more than two or three days, and
intend to go on to the baths, where I beg Your
Highness to be pleased to order Andrea Mantegna
and Malagista to stay with me, in order that I may
have some distraction and amusement to enable me
to avoid sleep, as is necessary for my cure. It wUl
be a great pleasure to show Andrea my cameos and
bronzes, and other fine antiques, which we can ex-
amine and discuss together, and Malagista's playing
and singing will make it easier for me to keep awake.
So I beg you to let me have these two for my com-
panions. After taking the baths, I wiU return to
Bologna for eight or ten days, and then come to
spend all October with Your Excellency at Mantua.
... I am able, thank God, to ride again since I left
the bad air of Rome, and am already much better. —
Your most devoted son, Francesco Gonzaga, Car-
dinal and legate." ' Foligno, 18th July 1472.
Both artists were sent to join Francesco at
Bologna, and on Sunday, the 24th of August, the
young Cardinal-legate made his solemn entry into
Mantua, bringing in his train the distinguished archi-
tect Leo Battista Alberti, and the young Florentine
poet Angelo Poliziano, whose famous drama of
1 Archivio Gonzaga, quoted by A. Baschetj Gazette des Beaux
Arts, vol. xx.j 1866.
SALA DEGLI SPOSI 35
" Orfeo," composed by him in three days, was acted
for the first time on this occasion. The event was
commemorated by Mantegna in a still more splendid
form in the frescoes of the Camera degli Sposi, which
were completed in 1474, as recorded in the proud
inscription placed by the painter on a tablet, held by
winged boys, over the door: "To the illustrious
Lodovico II., Marquis of Mantua, most excellent
prince, in the faith invincible, and his illustrious
wife, Barbara, the incomparable glory of women.
Their Andrea Mantegna of Padua has completed
this humble work to their honour. 1474."
Here, in the Marquis's own nuptial chamber, in
the corner tower of the Castello, the great master has
left us a hving record of the Gonzaga family. The
painter's genius has transformed this small room in
the heart of the grim old fortress into a fairy bower,
decorated with garlands and tapestries, where sportive
loves play on a marble parapet under the blue sky.
On one wall the reception of a foreign ambassador,
probably the envoy sent by the Duke of Wiirtem-
berg to ask for the hand of Lodovico's daughter
Barbara, is represented. A secretary is seen handing
the letter to the good prince, who, with his wife at
his side, is seated in true patriarchal fashion under an
open loggia on the garden terrace, surrounded by his
children and grandchildren, his courtiers and pet
dwarfs. His eldest son, Federico, advances to re-
ceive the German ambassador, while the bride-elect,
standing behind her mother's chair, turns her eyes
with eager gaze in the same direction. On the op-
posite waU of the nuptial chamber, a second fresco
commemorates the arrival of the young Cardinal and
his suite of servants on his return from Rome. The
36 MANTEGNA'S FRESCOES
Marquis goes out to welcome him, with his sons,
Federico and Gianfrancesco, and his two Uttle grand-
sons, Francesco, afterwards the husband of Isabella
d'Este, and Sigismondo, the future Cardinal. In
both of these family groups the striking personality
of the different personages has been clearly brought
out by the painter. We see the gallant bearing of
the soldier-sons, the culture and wisdom of the man
of the world mingled with the sober gravity of the
ecclesiastic in the sleek face and portly figure of the
young Cardinal, while aU the strength and goodness
of Barbara's character lives in the sensible German
face that looks out from under the quaint square
head-dress, and in the grave, black eyes that are fixed
on her lord's face, and seem to express her readiness
to help him with her sympathy and advice. The
sunny landscape, with the Pantheon and Coliseum
among the seven hills, recalls the Eternal City from
which Francesco had lately returned, and if the
medallions of Ceesars and myths of Hercules and
Orpheus are emblems of Lodovico's taste for classical
history and love of music, the peacock on the balus-
trade, the tame Hon crouching at his feet, and the
favourite greyhound asleep under his chair, remind
us of his interest in birds and animals.
Thus, in these noble frescoes which still hght up
the old walls of the Castello with colour and bright-
ness, the great master has not only left us a faithful
picture of Lodovico and his family, but has enabled
us to reaUse the strong German sense of family
affection and home life, combined with the splendour
and culture of an Itahan court, which Isabella found
at Mantua when she became the wife of Francesco
Gonzaga,
PhotOy Aiiderson
LODOVICO GONZAGA AND HIS SONS
By Andrea Mantegna
{Sala degli Sposi. Mantua)
To face p. 36, TJoL i
CHAPTER HI
1478—1490
Reign of Federico Gonzaga — Death of his wife and mother — His
love for his daughters — Visit of Lorenzo dei Medici —
Accession of Francesco Gonzaga — His character and warlike
tastes — Betrothal of Elisabetta Gonzaga to Guidobaldo, Duke
of Urbino — His visit to Mantua — Marriage of Elisabetta —
Her return to Mantua for Francesco's wedding — Her friend-
ship with Isabella d'Este — Excursion to the Lago di Garda —
Visits to Ferrara.
LoDOVico Gonzaga died at the age of sixty-four
on the 12th of June 1478, at his villa of Goito, less
than a month after writing his kind and dignified
reply to Mantegna's remonstrances, whUe the plague
was still raging at Mantua. On his deathbed he was
induced by his wife, whose affection for her younger
children overcame her natural wisdom, to divide his
State, and leave her favourite son, Gianfrancesco,
the principality of Bozzolo and Sabbioneta, while
Castighone was bequeathed to Rodolfo Gonzaga and
Gazzuolo to Bishop Lodovico. This division not
only weakened the State, but led to serious family
dissensions in the future. During Barbara's life-
time, however, all went well. Her eldest son, the
new Marquis, Federico, consoled his widowed mother's
grief, and treated her with the greatest respect, tell-
ing her, in true humanist fashion, that she had lost
a lord whom she was bound to obey and kept a son
whose duty it was to obey her. A year afterwards
his wife, Margaret of Bavaria, died, leaving a young
37
38 DEATH OF BARBARA
family of five children, who were tenderly cared for
by their grandmother. But on the 10th of Novem-
ber 1481, Barbara herself died at the age of fifty-
eight, deeply lamented by all her children. Fra
Bernardino da Feltre, the eloquent Franciscan friar,
pronounced her funeral oration, and Matteo Bossi,
the learned Abbot of Fiesole, addressed a Latin
epistle of condolence to Cardinal Gonzaga on the
death of this admirable lady. She was buried by her
husband's side in front of the Area di S. Anselmo in
the Duomo, and her sons desired Luca FanceUi to
raise a splendid monument over her grave. But the
Cardinal died in 1483, and although Bishop Lodovico
intended to carry out his scheme, it seems doubtful
if the tomb was ever erected.
Before the good Marchesa died she had the joy
of seeing her granddaughter, Chiara — born in July
1464 — married to the King of France's cousin Gilbert,
Due de Montpensier, and her eldest grandson Fran-
cesco, who was two years younger, betrothed to
Isabella d'Este, with whose mother Leonora she had
long been on friendly terms. Federico himself was
an affectionate father, and took great interest in his
two younger daughters, Elisabetta, whose delicate
health made her an object of especial anxiety, and
Maddalena, who was only seven years old when her
mother died. On the 14th of August 1481, Violante
de' Preti, the faithful governess in whose charge the
young princesses were spending the summer at the
ducal villa of Porto, wrote the following report to the
Marquis, who was frequently absent from Mantua
during the long war with Venice : —
" Most illustrious Prince and excellent Lord,—
You will be glad to hear that both your illustrious
FEDERICO'S DAUGHTERS 39
daughters are well and happy and very obedient,
so that it is a real pleasure to see them busy with
their books and embroidery. They are very easy to
manage, and they enjoy riding their new pony, one
on the saddle, the other on piUion. They ride all
about the park, but always attended by servants on
horseback, and we follow in the chariot. They are
quite delighted with this pony, and Your Excellency
could not have made them any present which gave
them greater pleasure. I hope, my dear lord, by the
grace of God, to be able to give you good news every
day, in order that Your Highness may rest satisfied,
to whose favour I commend myself. — Your devoted
servant, Violante de' Preti."^
On February 23, 1483, the little princesses received
a visit from no less a personage than Lorenzo dei
Medici, who spent a night at Mantua on his way to
attend a conference at Cremona, where a new league
was formed against Venice, and sent word to
Violante's pupils by their dancing master that they
might expect him after dinner. In her next letter to
the Marquis, Violante describes how the little girls
came to meet the Magnifico Lorenzo, and led him
into their rooms, and how he sat down between them
and talked for some time, and told them, when he
took his leave, that their father was rich in fair
children. The next day their brother, Francesco
Gonzaga, who entertained this distinguished guest
in his father's absence, wrote and informed the
Marquis how he had accompanied the Magnifico
Lorenzo on foot to mass at S. Francesco, and how
he went on from the church to the house of Andrea
Mantegna, "where he greatly admired some of
1 A. Luzio e R. Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 6.
40 ANDREA MANTEGNA
Messer Andrea's paintings, as well as certain heads
in high relief and other antiques in which he seemed
to take great delight." ^
Federico himseK treated Mantegna with great
kindness, and wrote affectionately to him when he
was ill in October 1478, telling him to try and get
rid of the fever as soon as he could, but not to trouble
his head about the work at present. He employed
Andrea to decorate his new viUa of Marmirolo, and
when in 1484 the Prefect of Rome, Giovanni deUa
Rovere, a brother-in-law of Duke Guidobaldo of
Urbino, begged Bishop Lodovico Gonzaga for a
picture by Mantegna, that prelate replied that the
painter was unable to comply with his request, since
his time was entirely engaged in painting a hall in
one of the Mantuan palaces. And when Andrea
declined to copy a drawing sent him by Bona, Duchess '
of Milan, who begged that he would " reduce it to a
more elegant form," the Marquis excused his some-
what blunt refusal, saying that "these excellent
masters are often somewhat fantastic in humour, and
that we must be content to take what they choose
to give us."^ Federico intended at one time to make
considerable additions to the Castello, and wrote to
ask his father's old friend Federico di Montefeltro
for a plan of his famous palace of Urbino, but
the execution of this project and many others
was hindered by the constant wars which ex-
hausted his treasury. His old tutor Filelfo often
reproached him with his parsimony, saying that the
Marquis had never forgiven him for complaining to
1 Archivio Gonsaga, quoted by A. Baschet, Gazette des Beaux
Arts, 1866.
2 Archivio Gonsaga, lib. xcix., quoted by A. Baschet, &c.
FRANCESCO GONZAGA 41
his parents of his indolence when he was a boy, but
Federico appointed one of the querulous old scholar's
twenty-four children to be his son's tutor, while
Colombino of Verona, the commentator of Dante,
instructed his two httle daughters. After his visit
to Ferrara in 1482, he begged Duke Ercole to send
him L'Asino d'Oro, an Itahan version of Apuleius's
poem, and gave Isabella's tutor Battista Guarino a
grant of wheat during the famine which prevailed
in that city. But when, in 1483, the said Guarino
applied for the post of tutor to his sons, the Marquis
rephed that this was impossible, since in the first
place he could not alFord to pay him a salary, and
in the second place his sons did not require a teacher.
Francesco, he explained, was already seventeen and
his o'WTi master, while Sigismondo, a boy of fourteen,
was studying at the University of Pavia, and Gio-
vanni, being only nine, was too young to need a
tutor. A year afterwards Federico died, and was
succeeded by his eldest son, Francesco, the affianced
husband of Isabella d'Este.
Although small of stature, the young Marquis
was vigorous and athletic, and from early boyhood
showed greater inclination for manly sports and
exercises than for study. One of his first tutors
complained that he would never sit still and that it
was very difficult to induce him to fix his attention
on his book. Throughout his hfe he retained these
characteristics. He was passionately fond of hunting,
kept hundreds of dogs, and was especially proud of
his famous breed of Barbary horses, which carried off"
prizes at aU the races for which they were entered, and
were sent by their owner as presents to Kings and
Emperors. A brave soldier and shrewd politician.
42 THE TRIUMPHS
with the help of his clever wife he raised Mantua to
the foremost rank among the smaller Italian states,
and although he inherited little of his grandfather's
and uncle's taste for letters, he was fully alive to the
lustre and renown which his court and person derived
from great artistic achievements, and became a liberal
patron of scholars and painters. He was naturally
fond of luxurious and splendid surroundings, and
employed Mantegna soon after his accession to paint
his great series of Triumphs for a haU in the Castello.
As a chUd he had learnt to revere the genius of the
great master who had worked for three successive
generations of his house, and when he sent him to
Rome in 1488, told Innocent VIII. that Andrea
was "a most excellent painter, who had no equal
in the present age." His own letters to Mantegna
during this prolonged absence show the most friendly
regard, and are a proof of the famiUar and intimate
relations that existed between the painter and the
members of the Gonzaga family.
Another pleasant feature of Francesco's character
was his affection for his Httle sisters. In August
1486, he arranged two excellent marriages for these
young princesses. Elisabetta was betrothed to
Guidobaldo, the son and successor of Duke Federico
of Urbino, while Maddalena became the affianced
bride of Giovanni Sforza, lord of Pesaro and cousin
of the reigning Duke of Milan. The young Duke
of Urbino visited Mantua on this occasion, and
Silvestro Calandra, the court chamberlain, wrote on
the 26th of August to the absent Marquis : " To-day
this illustrious Duke went in a boat for his pleasure
after dinner on the lake, but, being little used to the
water, felt unwell and landed at the gate of the
ELISABETTA'S WEDDING 43
Corte to see the Triumphs of Cassar, which Man-
tegna is painting, which pleased him greatly, and
then passed by the Via Coperta into the Castello." ^
That Christmas Chiara Gonzaga, the young Duchess
of Montpensier, came to visit Mantua for the first
time since her marriage five years before, and the
three sisters prepared a " beautiful festa " for their
brother's entertainment, and were sorely disappointed
when three days before the feast they heard* that
he had been obhged to put off his visit. " Illustrious
Prince and dearest brother," they wrote in a joint
epistle, "we three sisters, with some other gentle
ladies, had prepared a most beautiful entertainment
for Your Excellency, since we made sure that we
should enjoy your presence at this solemn festival.
But now that we hear our hopes were vain we are
grievously disappointed, and feel very unhappy, and
can enjoy no mirth or pleasure without you, and
indeed it seems to be a thousand years since we have
seen you. So now we pray you earnestly, by that
gentle and brotherly love you bear us, to come and
console us in the New Year and taste the pleasures
that we have prepared for you in our festa, which
will certainly gratify you and give us the greatest
possible deUght. — Your sisters and servants, Chiara,
Elisabetta and Maddalena Gonzaga."^
In February 1488, Elisabetta set out on her
journey to Urbino, and after experiencing terrible
weather on the Po, enjoyed a brief rest at Ferrara,
as the guest of the hospitable Duke and Duchess.
But hardly had the wedding party left Ferrara than
the tempest began again. At Ravenna, where the
1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 9-
2 Ibid., p. 8.
44 COURT OF URBINO
Podesta gave them lodgings, the rain came through
the roof in such torrents that it was almost impossible
for the princess to find a dry place in her bed, and
as they rode on through the Apennines, the roads
were so bad and the rivers so much swoUen that
the attendants often had to carry Elisabetta and
her horse bodily in their arms. "If it had not
been for their devotion," she wrote to her brother,
" I should certainly not have reached Urbino alive." '^
After this perilous journey, in what Francesco's sec-
retary Capilupo calls " the most detestable weather
ever known for weddings," Elisabetta found a splen-
did reception awaiting her at Urbino. The Duke's
loyal subjects poured out of the city gates, troops
of white-robed children waving laurel boughs came
down the hillside to welcome her with shouts of
joy, and the splendours of the wonderful palace on
the heights, with its gorgeous tapestries and treasures
of gold and silver, consoled the Mantuan courtiers
for the perils and sufferings of the way. The young
Duke Guidobaldo was a very handsome and courteous
prince, exactly the same age as his wife and skilled in
all knightly exercises, although even at this early age
he suffered cruelly from gout. From the first he
showed himself a devoted husband, while Elisabetta's
charm and goodness soon won all hearts in her new
home. But the happiness and splendour of her
present surroundings could not make her forget the
old home to which she was so fondly attached, and
she wept bitterly when her brother Giovanni and
the Mantuan escort took their departure. " I was
very unhappy at parting from Messer Giovanni," she
wrote to the Marquis, " and feel that I am abandoned
1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 27.
ELISABETTA'S ILL-HEALTH 45
by all my own family." But in August she had the
joy of seeing Francesco, who paid his sister a flying
visit, and showed his affection for her by frequent
presents of fish, fruit, and game, as well as antiques
and horses for his brother-in-law's acceptance. In
1489, the young Marquis was appointed captain-
general of the Venetian armies, a post which he held
with distinction during the next nine years, and
which occupied his time fully. A few months later,
in October, Elisabetta and her husband were present
at her sister Maddalena's marriage to Giovanni
Sforza at Pesaro. But her health, which was never
strong, gave way under the strain of these prolonged
festivities, and she fell seriously ill in November.
" We found Madonna, your sister," wrote Fran-
cesco's secretary Capilupo, who accompanied the
Mantuan doctor sent by the Marquis to Urbino,
" looking very thin and pale, with none of the bright
and healthy colour that she used to have in her
cheeks. ... It is true there is a grace and gentleness
about her which is that of a creature angelic rather
than human, and although she will not allow us to
say she is thin, and keeps up bravely, her limbs betray
her weakness. She is up and dressed all day, but
confesses that she is obliged to sit down when she
has walked once or twice across the room." ^ The air
of Urbino was pronounced to be too keen for the
delicate young Duchess in winter, and as soon as she
was fit to travel she came to Mantua for change, and
remained there for her brother's wedding. She it
was, we have already seen, who greeted the youthful
bride on the threshold of the Castello di Corte, and
whose gentle face and winning smile was the first
1 Luzio e Renier, Mantcma e Urbino, p. 50.
46 THE MARQUIS FRANCESCO
sight that met Isabella's eyes as she passed into
her new home. A Mantuan chronicler, probably
Amedei/ who was present at the Marquis Francesco's
wedding, describes Isabella as the most fascinating
child in the world, and the bridegroom as a youth of
majestic bearing, with broad forehead, keen eyes, and
thick locks. To j udge from contemporary portraits,
Francesco's appearance could hardly have been called
prepossessing. The terra-cotta bust preserved in the
Museum at Mantua, and the two portraits by Man-
tegna, the one painted when he was a boy of eight in
the Camera degli Sposi, the other representing him
twenty years later kneeling before the Virgin of
Victory, all show us the same swarthy complexion,
irregular features, and dark bushy locks. He had
neither the good looks of his uncles nor the dignity
of his father, and his short, stunted figure gives the
impression that he had narrowly escaped inheriting
the deformity which afflicted the former generation
of Gonzagas. But he was young and vigorous, full
of courage and activity, and as impetuous in love as
he was in war. And he was naturally enough deeply
enamoured of his fair young wife. Isabella on her
part was fondly attached to her husband, and proud
of his valour and unrivalled skill as a bold rider and
fearless j ouster. Both in character and intellect he
was greatly her inferior, but even when in later years
estrangements arose between the husband and wife,
Isabella resolutely shut her eyes to his open acts of
unfaithfulness, while Francesco placed the most
absolute confidence in his wife and to the last
retained the deepest admiration for her great
qualities.
1 D'Arco, Notisie d' Isabella d'Este.
ANTONIA DEL BALZO 47
In these early days no shadow dimmed the bright
prospects of the young Marchesana. Her joyous
nature, her youth and beauty, brought sunshine into
the old Castello on the Mantuan lakes, and she was
soon as much adored in her new home as she had been
in her father's home. Her ready tact and good sense
helped to aUay the dissensions which had arisen be-
tween the young Marquis and his uncles. Bishop
Lodovico in particular had incurred his nephew's dis-
pleasure after his elder brother's death by his efforts
to obtain the Cardinal's hat which Francesco wished
to secure for his brother Sigismondo, and held a rival
court of his own at Gazzuolo. But soon after Isabella's
marriage the Bishop sent to Venice for a costly jewel
which he offered her as a wedding present, and the
young Marchesana always kept up a friendly inter-
course with him and his brother Gianfrancesco, the
lord of Bozzolo. This gallant soldier served King
Ferrante of Naples for many years, and, during his
residence in Southern Italy, married Antonia del
Balzo, the beautiful and accomplished daughter of
Pirro, Prince of Altamura, the representative of
the old Proven9al family of Des Baux, who had fol-
lowed Charles of Anjou to Naples, and bore the star
in their coat-of-arms in proud token of their descent
from Balthasar, one of the Three Kings.^ The Gonza-
gas of Bozzolo shared Isabella's love of romances and
plays, and she constantly exchanged books with them
or assisted at the dramatic performances in which
they took deUght. At her request Francesco Bello,
the blind improvisatore of Ferrara, who had settled
at the court of Bozzolo, came to Mantua on a visit ; but
Gianfrancesco, who suffered from increasing infirmities
1 V. Rossi, Giom. St. d. Lett. It., vol. xiii.
48 FRIENDSHIP OF ISABELLA
and became prematurely old during the last years of
his life, entreated her to send him back soon, since
the poet's recitations were one of the few pleasures
that he was still able to enjoy. Antonia remained
one of Isabella's intimate friends to the end of her
long life, and in August 1492, when the Marchesana
passed through the town of Canneto in their dominions
on her way to Milan, she wrote back to tell her hus-
band how Madame Antonia had come out to meet her
with her two beautiful daughters. " Messer Andrea
Mantegna," she exclaimed, "could not paint fairer
maidens ! " ^
With the more immediate members of her hus-
band's family Isabella soon became a great favourite.
Both her brother-in-law, Monsignore il protonotario,
as Sigismondo was styled, and the young Giovanni, a
merry lad of sixteen, were from the first her devoted
slaves. Giovanni especially took part in all Isa-
bella's amusements, and kept up a lively corre-
spondence with her when she was absent from
Mantua. But, of aU her new relations, the one
whom Isabella admired the most and loved the best
was her sister-in-law, Elisabetta. From the day when
the young Marchesana arrived at Mantua, a fast
friendship sprang up between these two princesses,
which was destined to prove as enduring as it was
deep and strong. " There is no one I love like you,"
she wrote to Elisabetta in the ardour of her affection,
" excepting my only sister, the Duchess of Bari "—
Beatrice d'Este. And through all the changes and
turmoil of the coming years, through the political
troubles and fears and plots which tore Italy in
twain and divided households against each other,
1 Luzio e Renier in Archivio Storico Lombardo, vol. xvii. p. 344.
AND ELISABETTA 49
Isabella's friendship for her beloved sister-in-law
never altered.
The two princesses had much in common. Both
of them took especial delight in music and singing.
Both were studious in their tastes, and showed the
same kindly interest in painters and scholars. Isabella
was more than three years younger than the Duchess,
who had reached the age of nineteen at the time of
her brother's wedding. She was more brilliant and
witty, quicker at gay repartee and merry jokes. And
she was also more talented and many-sided in her
tastes. In future years she took an active part in
politics, showed herscK a skilful and able diplomatist,
and was a match for Caesar Borgia himself. Ehsa-
betta was graver and more thoughtful. She had
neither the physical strength nor the striking beauty
and high spirits of Isabella. But her sweetness and
goodness inspired those who knew her best with
absolute devotion. She was adored, not only by
her husband and brothers, but by the most brilliant
cavaliers and distinguished men of letters of the age,
by Baldassarre Castiglione and Pietro Bembo.
On this occasion Elisabetta remained at Mantua,
by her sister-in-law's especial wish, till June. Dur-
ing the frequent journeys of the Marquis to Venice,
the two princesses were inseparable companions. To-
gether they sang French songs and read the latest
romances, or played scartino, their favourite game at
cards, in the pleasant rooms which Francesco had
prepared for his bride on the first floor of the Castello,
near the Sala degh Sposi. Together they rode and
walked in the park and boated on the crystal waters
of the lake, or took excursions to the neighbouring
villas of Porto and Marmirolo. By the middle of
VOL. I. D
50 THE LAGO DI GARDA
March, the Duchess's health was sufficiently improved
to venture on a longer trip, and on the 15th, Isabella
wrote to her absent lord : " To-day, after dinner, with
Your Highness's kind permission, the Duchess of
Urbino and I are going to supper at Goito, and to-
morrow to Cavriana, where the wife of Signor Fra-
cassa (Gasparo San Severino) will meet us, and on
Thursday we are going on the lake of Garda, accord-
ing to Your Highness's orders, and I have let the
Rector of Verona know, so that we may find a barge at
Sermione." A few days later she wrote from Cavriana
to inform her husband of the success of their expedi-
tion. " The Duchess of Urbino and I, together v^ith
Signor Fracassa's wife, went on Thursday to dine
at Desenzano and to supper at TuscuUano, where we
spent the night, and greatly enjoyed the sight of this
Riviera. On Friday we returned by boat to Ser-
mione, and rode here on horseback. Wherever we
went we were warmly welcomed and treated with the
greatest attention, most of all by the captain of the
lake, who gave us fish and other things, and by the
people of Salo, who sent us a fine present. To-morrow
we go to Goito, and on Tuesday back to Mantua."^
So for the first time Isabella saw the lovely shores of
Garda and the lemon groves of Salo, and lingered in
the classic gardens of Sermione, charmed with the
delights of that fair paradise which she was often to
visit in years to come. "These Madonnas," wrote
one of the gentlemen-in-waiting, Stefano Sicco, from
Cavriana on the 20th, "have been indefatigable in
making excursions by boat and on horseback, and
have seen aU the gardens on the lake with the
greatest delight. The inhabitants have vied with
1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 54.
LETTERS FROM FERRARA 51
each other in doing them honour, and one Fermo
of Caravazo caused his garden to be stripped for the
Marchesana and her party and loaded them with
lemons and pomegranates."^
Meanwhile the blank which Isabella's departure
had left at Ferrara made itself daily felt. Her old
tutor Jacopo GaUino wrote that he could not keep
back his tears when he thought of those happy days
when she read Virgil at his side, and repeated the
Eclogues in her clear voice. At Isabella's request
he sent her old Latin books to Mantua that she
might pursue her studies and sometimes remember
her poor old tutor. Another servant, Brandehsio
Trotti, describes in his letters how he wanders, from
room to room, through the desolate chambers where
her angelic face once smiled upon him, recalling
each word and act, and saying to himself: "There
my divine lady lived — here she spoke those sweet,
thoughtful words." " In the whole palace," wrote
Leonora's chamberlain, Bernardino dei Prosperi,
" there is not a single courtier or serving woman
who does not feel widowed without Your Highness.
Even the tricks and jests of the dwarfs and clowns
fail to make us laugh." Most of aU to be pitied
was the poor Duchess, who would not even allow
the little window-shutters of Isabella's apartment
to be opened, saying that she had not the heart to
visit those empty rooms, knowing how great was
the blank that she would find there.
Isabella, to do her justice, did not forget her
old friends. She wrote kind letters to her old tutors,
Battista Guarino and Jacopo GaUino, and sent them
presents of black damask and velvet in gratitude
1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urhino, pp. 54-56.
52 DEATH OF MADDALENA
for their past services. She even remembered the
clown Fritella, and sent a ducat and three yards of
tan-coloured satin to this pet dwarf, who remained
deeply attached to the young Marchesana, and
whose blotted, ill-spelt letters are still preserved in
the Gonzaga archives/ Early in April the Marquis
took her back to Ferrara for a short visit, and in
July, after the Duchess of Urbino had left Mantua,
she returned to spend another fortnight with her
parents. The sudden death of Maddalena Gonzaga,
the young wife of Giovanni Sforza, on the 8th of
August, within a year of her marriage, was a great
shock to all her family, and Isabella grieved most
of all for the sake of Elisabetta, whose health was
severely affected by this unexpected sorrow. Isa-
bella herself was suffering from a slight attack of
fever at the time, and Beatrice dei Contrari, the
faithful Ferrara lady whom Leonora had solemnly
charged to watch over her young mistress's welfare,
would not allow the sad news to be told her for
some days, " knowing her cordial affection for Ma-
donna Maddalena, and fearing," as she wrote to the
Marquis, " lest we should add iU to ill." ^ A month
later the Marchesana and her ladies took another
excursion to the shores of Garda, and wrote to teU
Elisabetta how much she missed her in these fair
regions and how ardently she wished for her to
enjoy the good fish and the delights of the arch-
priest's garden at TuscuUano. After her return
to Mantua, she received a visit from her brothers
Alfonso and Ferrante, and intended to accompany
them to Ferrara, as her mother was suffering from
1 A. Luzio, / Precettofi d' Isabella d'Este, pp. 13, 17.
2 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 55.
ISABELLA AT FERRARA 53
fever, but in deference to Francesco's wish put off
the visit till November. On arriving at Ferrara,
Isabella found the Duchess engaged in active
preparations for Beatrice's wedding, which was to
take place at Pavia in January, but amid the stir
and excitement around her she managed to write
the following affectionate little note to her hus-
band : —
" My dearest lord, — If I have not written before,
it is not that you have not been continually in my
heart, but that I had simply not a moment to
spare as long as the Milanese ambassador was here.
Now I must do my duty and tell you that I can
have no pleasure when I am away from Your
Highi^ess, whom I love more than my own life. —
One who loves Your Highness more than herself,
Isabella da Este da Gonzaga." Ferrara,
November 25, 1490.
On the 28th Francesco replied to this loving little
note in similar terms : —
" Since you feel that you cannot be happy away
from me any longer, which is only natural, con-
sidering the immense love which we both feel for
each other, it seems to me that, now you have
satisfied your illustrious father and mother's wishes, as
well as your own affection for your family, you might
return home for our own happiness, and so I shall
look forward to your arrival with impatience."
And on the same day Beatrice dei Contrari wrote
to the Marquis : —
" My illustrious lady is as beautiful, well and gay
as possible, and wants nothing but the presence of
Your Excellency to make her perfectly happy." ^
1 Luzio e Render in Archivio Storico Lomhardo, vol. xvii. p. 81.
CHAPTER IV
1490—1493
Marriage of Beatrice d'Este to Lodovico Sforza — Isabella's pre-
parations for the wedding — Journey to Pavia and Milan —
Marriage of Alfonso d'Este to Anna Sforza — F^tes at Ferrara
— Correspondence of Isabella with Lodovico and Beatrice
Sforza — Isabella administers aifairs of State — Galeotto's
dyke — Visits to Ferrara^ Milan, and Genoa — The Duchess of
Urbino comes to Mantua — Isabella's affection for Elisabetta,
The next few weeks after Isabella's return were
spent in preparations for her journey to Milan.
She had gladly accepted the courteous invitation sent
her by Lodovico Sforza to accompany her mother
and sister to the wedding, although her husband
thought it best to decline for his part, fearing to
offend the Signory of Venice, who looked with sus-
picion on this alliance between the Sforzas and Estes.
The young Marchioness was determined to make a
brave show on this occasion, and all the merchants in
Venice and Ferrara were required to ransack their
stores and supply her with furs, brocades, and jewels.
Zorzo Brognolo, the Gonzagas' trusted agent in
Venice, was desired to search all the shops in Venice
for eighty of the very finest sables to make a sbernia
or mantle. " Try to find one skin with the head of
the animal," Isabella adds, " to make a muff, which I
can carry in my hand. Never mind if it costs as
much as ten ducats ; I will give the money gladly as
long as it is really a fine fur. You must also buy
eight yards of the best crimson satin which you can
MARRIAGE OF BEATRICE 55
find in Venice to line the said shernia, and for God's
sake use all your accustomed diligence, for nothing, I
assure you, will give me greater pleasure." ^ A few
days later she entreats Giacomo Trotti, the Duke of
Ferrara's ambassador at Milan, to send her two skins of
Spanish cat, the best and finest that are to be found
in that city, to trim this sumptuous mantle ; and in
January 1491, when she had already started on her
journey, she writes to Genoa and orders another
shernia of costly brocade to be sent by express
courier to await her arrival at Pavia.
The cruel hardships to which the Marchioness
and her ladies were exposed during their journey in
barges up the Po, the actual cold and hunger which
they suffered, are vividly described in Beatrice dei
Contrari's letters to the Marquis, while Isabella her-
self has left a lively narrative of the brilliant festivities
with which the Moro's wedding was celebrated in her
letters to her young brother-in-law Giovanni Gon-
zaga.^ The young princess threw herself with ardent
enthusiasm into the pleasures of the hour, and the
friendship which she formed on this occasion with
her new brother-in-law Lodovico Sforza was destined
to prove an important factor in North Italian poKtics.
The espousals of her brother Alfonso with Anna
Sforza, niece of Lodovico and sister of the reigning
Duke of MUan, Giangaleazzo, were solemnised in the
ducal chapel at Milan on the 23rd of January, but
the final nuptial benediction was deferred for the
present, and, on the 1st of February, the bridal pair
1 Luzio in Ntiova Antologia, 1896, p. 455.
2 For details of the wedding and the later visits of Isabella to
Milan, as well as the correspondence between the sisters, &c., see
my work on " Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan," chaps, v. and vi.
(Dent & Co., 1899).
56 ISABELLA VISITS THE CERTOSA
set out on the return journey to Ferrara, accompanied
by Duchess Leonora, Isabella, and their respective
suites, and escorted by 200 Milanese knights and
nobles. On their way to Pavia the distinguished
travellers paid a visit to the famous Certosa, which
the Dukes of Milan justly counted one of the ifinest
jewels in their crown, and which both Isabella and
her mother had expressed their wish to see. At
first the Prior raised objections, and told the
Regent that no women might be admitted into the
convent precincts without a dispensation from the
Pope. But Lodovico overruled his scruples, saying
that he would take the responsibility upon himself,
and gave peremptory orders that church and convent
should be thrown open on this occasion, and that
the Duchess and her party should be feasted with
" an abundance of lampreys " and other delicacies.
After this no further objection was raised by the
Prior, and the archives of the Certosa record how,
on the 6th of February 1491, "there came to this
monastery the wife of the Duke of Ferrara, with the
Marchioness of Mantua and the brother and sister of
the Duke of Milan, together with a suite of 400
horses and 800 persons, and the expense of supplying
them with confectionery, fish and Malvasia wine
amounted to 400 lire." ^
That winter was exceptionally severe ; the streets
of Milan and the park of Pavia lay deep in snow, and
when the wedding party reached Ferrara the Po was
stiU frozen over and hundreds of workmen were em-
ployed to break the ice and make a passage for the
bucentaur. On the 12th of February, the bride
entered the city on horseback, escorted by the Duke
1 Carlo Magenta, I Visconii e Sforza nel Castello di Pavia.
ALFONSO D'ESTE'S WEDDING 57
and Alfonso, and followed by the Marquis and
Marchioness of Mantua, Annibale Bentivoglio and
his wife, Lucrezia d'Este, Ercole's learned sister
Bianca d'Este, with her husband Galeotto della
Mirandola, and the Ambassadors of Milan, Venice,
and Naples. Four triumphal arches, adorned with
mythological groups, had been erected along the
route by the ducal architect Biagio Rosetti, the
builder of the Campanile of the Duomo and of the
famous Palazzo Diamante. The Sun-god was seen
driving his chariot on the arch opposite the
Schifanoia palace, Cupid rode in his car drawn by
doves in front of the Franciscan church, the Great
Twin Brethren with their prancing steeds were repre-
sented on the arch before the Duomo, while aU the
chief gods of Olympus welcomed the bridal pair at
the gates of the CasteUo. Here Leonora received
the bride, and the nuptial blessing was pronounced
by the Archbishop in the ducal chapel, while the
German Kapellmeister, Don Giovanni Martini, played
exquisite organ melodies, and the choir boys sang
their sweetest strains. This was followed by a
banquet and a representation of the Menoechmi with
scenery painted for the occasion by a Ferrara master,
Niccolo del Cogo, and a ball in which the Marquis of
Mantua danced with the bride and Alfonso with the
Marchioness. Later in the evening Isabella and
Anna Sforza danced country dances together amidst
the applause of the assembled company, after which
the bride was escorted to her chamber by her family
and courtiers, with lighted torches and much noisy
merriment.^
The concourse of guests assembled at Ferrara
1 Luzio e Renier in Arch. St. Lomb., vol. xvii. p. 9Q.
58 ISABELLA GOVERNS MANTUA
on this occasion was enormous. The Venetian Am-
bassadors, Zaccaria Barbaro and Francesco Capello,
brought as many as 150 persons in their suite, and
the Duke's steward records that upwards of 45,000
pounds of meat were consumed at court during the
week.-^
On the 17th of February, Isabella wrote a de-
tailed account of these festivities to her sister
Beatrice, whose absence from Ferrara at this eventful
time was the only thing she regretted, and promised
to keep her better supphed with letters now that the
fetes were over and she was quietly at home again.
Lodovico, in his anxiety to gratify his sister-in-law,
agreed to send a weekly courier to Mantua, and
seldom failed to write himself, while Beatrice's
Ferrarese ladies-in-waiting, Teodora degli Angeh and
Polissena d'Este, kept Isabella well informed of all
that happened at the court of Milan. Both the Duke
and Duchess of Bari were exceedingly anxious that
Isabella should join their hunting parties at Pavia
and Vigevano that summer, but the Marchesa was
unable to leave home, since her husband visited
Bologna in June for his brother Giovanni's wedding
to Laura Bentivoglio and afterwards went on to see
his sister at Urbino. Money was short at Mantua,
and Isabella could iU afford the expense of another
journey to her sister's brilliant court. So she
reluctantly declined her pressing invitations, and
like a good wife devoted herself to the management
of her lord's public and private affairs.
The long letters which Isabella addressed to
Francesco in his absence show how seriously she
applied herself to pubhc business and how anxiously
1 Muratori, R. I. S., vol. xxiv.
GALEOTTO'S DYKE 59
she considered the good of his subjects. She often
consulted her father and her brother-in-law Lodovico
Sforza, on questions which concerned them as neigh-
bouring Powers. That summer she was much
troubled about a certain dyke which her uncle
Galeotto della Mirandola had constructed in his
dominions whereby the waters of the river Secchia
were diverted from Mantuan territory, and many far-
mers and peasants were threatened with ruin. In
August, the Marchesa addressed an urgent entreaty
to Lodovico, complaining that Galeotto had not only
refused to attend to her request, but that, when she
proposed to refer the question to the Regent of Milan,
he had actually boasted that the Moro was far more
friendly to him than to the Gonzagas, " although," she
added indignantly, " our two houses are not only
connected by ties of blood and marriage, but united
by the closest friendship, and all the world knows the
great kindness and paternal affection which you have
shown to my lord and in a stiU higher degree to
myself, so that Messer Galeotto need not presume to
think himself more highly favoured than we are."
Galeotto however remained obdurate, and Duke
Ercole at his daughter's request sent a shrewd lawyer,
Pellegrino Prisciani, to examine the case and give
her the benefit of his advice. In a letter dated the
13th of September, viritten from her favourite viUa
of Porto, she gives her father an amusing account of
Messer Pellegrino's visit, and describes how the advo-
cate listened attentively while she laid the case before
him and took down notes of aU that she said, after
which he went on to Mirandola to hear Galeotto's
defence and report both sides of the question.
" Messer Pellegrino," she writes in her Uvely style,
60 A PEDANTIC LAWYER
"began by making me a long exordium which to
my mind altogether surpassed the speech which he
addressed to you. For in haranguing Your Excel-
lency he only quoted Pliny, whereas in speaking to
me he quoted Ptolemy, Vitruvius, Homer, Horace,
as weU as an innumerable quantity of other authors
about whom I knew as little of the one as of the
other ! One thing however really pleases me. It is
that after seeing and examining all these plans I have
begun to learn something about architecture, so that
in future when you tell me about your buildings I
shall be able to understand your explanations better."
And in a postscript she adds : " M. PeUegrino
departed yesterday, so well primed with our argu-
ments regarding the dyke of Secchia that I cannot
imagine how Messer Galeotto will be able to answer
him, unless, as is generally the case, he persists in
denying the truth ! " ^ Unfortunately we do not
learn the result of the lawyer's mission, but as we
hear no more on the subject can only conclude that
the Prince of Mirandola was brought to reason and
that the fair Marchesa won her case.
In November, Isabella spent some weeks at
Ferrara, and while she was there heard to her sur-
prise that her husband had suddenly gone to Milan.
" My dearest lord," she wrote to him on the 4th
of December, " I hear that you are gone to Milan
and am vexed not to have known of this before your
departure, as I would have left aU the pleasures
which I am enjoying here in the company of my
father and mother, and would have come to Mantua
at once to see Your Highness. But, as I did not
know this in time, I send these few lines by a courier
1 Luzio e Renier in Giorn. St. d. Lett. It., 1900.
ISABELLA GOES TO MILAN 61
on horseback to satisfy my anxiety as to your welfare,
begging you to commend me to Signor Lodovico
and the Duchess. — From her who longs to see Your
Highness, Isabella d' Este, with her own hand."
Francesco explained in a letter from Milan that
he had informed his wife of his intended journey in a
note which never reached her. Now he told her of
the kindly reception which he had received from
Lodovico and Beatrice, and of the honours and atten-
tions with which he was loaded, " all of which," wrote
Isabella in reply, " gave me incredible consolation,
and were no less delightful to me than if I had
been there in person." ^
It was only in the following summer that Isabella
herself was able to accept the Moro's repeated in-
vitations and pay her long-deferred visit to Milan.
A series of fetes and dramatic representations were
to be given at Pavia in honour of Duke Ercole, and
Francesco Gonzaga wrote from Venice urging his
wife to accompany her father. This, Isabella de-
clared, was absolutely impossible. " I have received
your letter," she wrote on the 25th of July, " and
understand that you wish me to go to Milan.
Certainly that is my own wish also, especially since
I hear the idea gives you pleasure, which is my
sole object in life, so that now I should go there with
the greatest good-will. But it is quite impossible
that I should accompany my father, or even start
soon after him, as I have not the means. Half of
my household are ill, and I must wait till they have
recovered, and Your Highness can choose the gentle-
men who are to accompany me. Meanwhile I will
arrange my affairs so as to be ready to start as soon
1 Luzio e Renier in Arch. Si. Lomb., vol. xvii. p. Il6.
62 HER JOURNEY
as possible. But, of course, if Your Highness thinks
differently, I will set out to-morrow, even if I have
to travel alone and in my chemise. If, however, you
are agreeable, I will write to Signor Lodovico and
accept his invitation, and wiU let him know the date
of my departure later on."
The proud young princess had certainly no in-
tention of appearing at the splendid court of Milan
" in her chemise," as she described it. During the
next few days letters were written and couriers were
sent flying in all directions to order new clothes and
jewels, not only for herself, but for the members of
her suite. " Since we have to go to Milan in the
middle of this month," the Marchioness wrote to her
old servant, Brandelisio Trotti, at Ferrara, "I am
anxious that the necklace of a hundred links should
be finished by then, and I beg and implore you by the
love you bear me to see it is ready in time. And
since I am anxious that the few persons who accom-
pany me should be honourably adorned with chains,
I should be very glad if you would kindly lend your
son Negro one of your own, as you did at my wed-
ding." At length aU the final preparations were made,
and Isabella set out on her journey on the 10th of
August. But half-way to Pavia she suddenly found
that her best hat and jewelled plume had been for-
gotten, and sent back the key of her black chest with
orders to one of her servants to send it post haste.'
The visit proved a great success, and Isabella's
letters to her husband dwell with delight on the
brilUant round of entertainments, hunting parties,
and theatricals provided for her amusement, on the
afFectionate kindness of Lodovico and Beatrice, and
1 Luzio e Renier, op. cit, pp. 348-350.
THE COURT OF MILAN 63
the enthusiastic welcome given her by the people of
Milan and Pavia. Political events also occupy a
prominent place in her correspondence at this time.
Alexander Borgia had just been elected Pope in
great measure owing to the powerful support of
Lodovico's brother, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, and
Isabella faithfully reports the latest news from Rome
and the satisfaction of the Moro at the elevation of
this Pontiff, who was to become ere long his most
bitter enemy. But, in the midst of all these pleasures
and distractions, Isabella often sighed for her hus-
band's presence. " I wiU not deny," she wrote
affectionately to him, "that I am enjoying the
greatest pleasures ; but, when I think how far off I
am from Your Excellency, I feel they are not half as
delightful as they would be if you were here." The
Marquis, however, was engaged in attending the
public races at Brescia, Siena, Lucca, and other
cities, and gladly gave his wife leave to visit Genoa
before her return home. New and warmer clothes
were necessary for this expedition now the summer
was over, and Isabella wrote to her chamberlain,
Alberto da Bologna, desiring him to have a new
grey satin camora, with black velvet sleeves, made
for her without delay.^ Some misunderstanding,
however, arose on the subject, for a week after-
wards Isabella wrote again, this time in very im-
perious fashion, telling Alberto that he must have
lost, not only his memory, but his brain and
eyesight by the fall of which he complained, and
repeating her orders with greater minuteness than
before. But no sooner had she sent this letter than
she repented of her hasty temper, and with her usual
I'Luzio e Renier, Nuova Antologia, I896, p. 451.
64 ISABELLA AT GENOA
kindness she wrote another note, assuring her old
servant that she had only been joking ! On the 1st
of October, the Marchioness went to Genoa, attended
by two of Lodovico's favourite courtiers, Girolamo
Tuttavilla and the Marchesino Stanga, and was
received by the governor, Adorno, who rode out to
meet her with an escort of Genoese nobles, mounted
on richly draped mules, " which made a fine show."
But, as Isabella herself tells us, the splendour of her
reception was marred by a curious incident which is
highly characteristic of the times. " At six o'clock,"
she writes, " we entered Genoa, amid the noise of
guns and trumpets, and I was conducted to the house
of Messer Cristoforo Spinola, where the governor's
wife and sister-in-law and other noble ladies were
waiting to receive me. Before I had time to dis-
mount, a crowd of workmen gathered round me, and
seized my mule, according to their custom here.
They snatched the bridle and tore the trappings
to pieces, although the governor interfered, and I
willingly gave it up to them. I was never so much
frightened in my life, and was really afraid of some
accident, but fortunately I did not lose my head.
At length I was released from their hands, leaving
my steed, a mule which Signor Lodovico had lent
me, to be their prey. I must redeem it at a fair
price, and shall have to buy a new set of trappings ! " '
Isabella was summoned back to Milan by her
sister's sudden illness, and as soon as she could leave
Beatrice hastened home. Francesco was growing
impatient at her prolonged absence, and wrote urgent
letters desiring her to return, as his presence was re-
quired in another part of his dominions, and he had sent
1 Luzio e Renier, op. cit, p. 359.
ISABELLA'S CLASSICAL STUDIES 65
Giovanni to Rome to congratulate the new Pope on
his accession. Unluckily, Beatrice dei Contrari fell
dangerously HI on the return journey, and during some
weeks Isabella was very anxious about this favourite
companion. When she went to Ferrara in the end
of November, she begged Beatrice to send her daily
reports of her condition, " for, loving you as I do," she
wrote, " I long to hear every hour how you are."
Happily the lively maid-of-honour's high spirits did
not desert her, and she wrote amusing letters to
Isabella, telling her how the Marquis had paid her a
visit and spent two hours in her company, lamenting
his wife's absence. " After discussing all manner of
subjects," adds the writer, "he ended by saying that he
should have to take me for his wife in your absence,
to which I replied that I feared he would have a bad
bargain, since Your Illustrious Highness is young and
beautiful, and I am old and ugly and nothing but a
bag of bones ! " ^
The Marchesa however could not leave her mother,
who had been in bad health aU the summer, and
remained at Ferrara until the end of the year, when
Leonora set out for Milan and Isabella accompanied
her to the borders of the Mantuan territory. Here
the mother and daughter parted. The Duchess went
on to Milan, where she was present at the birth of
Beatrice's first-born son, while Isabella returned home
to devote herself to her studies, and make up for
lost time, as she told her mother, by fresh zeal and
assiduity.
In spite of the manifold occupations and distrac-
tions of the last two years, the young Marchesa
had by no means given up her classical studies.
1 Luzio e Renier, op. cit., p. 360.
VOL. I. ^
66 HER TUTORS
In a Latin letter which she addressed to her old
teacher Guarino, in January 1492, she deplores the
cares of state which interfere with her good inten-
tions, and at the same time teUs him that it is quite
unnecessary to commend his daughter to her notice,
since she already loves the girl both for her own sake
and that of her father. A few months later she began
to read Latin again with a new tutor, and in another
letter Guarino exhorts her to persevere in the acqui-
sition of that learning which cannot fail to bring
her fame, since a truly cultured woman is as rare as a
phoenix. For a time the Mantuan scholar Sigismondo
Golfo helped the Marchesa in her studies, and sent
her long letters retailing the court gossip, when she
was at Milan or Ferrara. Since, however, she was no
longer as familiar with Latin as she had been in her
girlhood, she begged him to write to her in Italian for
the present, in spite of the humanist's protests at this
unworthy practice. By the end of the year, however,
Golfo left Mantua, and in his stead Guarino sent
Isabella one of his best scholars, Niccolo Panizzato,
whom Leonora had chosen to accompany her son
Ferrante on a journey to Hungary, and who was now
a public lecturer in the University of Ferrara. The
Marchioness agreed to give him the modest salary of
three ducats a month and to provide for his family, and
desired Niccolo to come to Mantua by the first boat
that was available after the carnival ffites were over,
in order that she might lose no time in setting to
work. But hardly had the new teacher set foot in
Mantua, than Isabella sent him back to resume his
work at Ferrara, saying that her time was too fuUy
occupied for her to resume her studies. Both the
youth himself and Isabella's old master were bitterly
LETTERS TO ELISABETTA 67
disappointed. " It is really a thousand pities," wrote
Guarino, " both for the sake of the poor young man
and for ourselves, who hoped to have a Madonna of
our own who would become honoured as a tenth
muse." ^ But the true reason for this sudden change
of mind was the news which Isabella had just
received that her beloved sister-in-law EUsabetta was
on her way to Mantua. During the last year the
Duchess of Urbino's presence had been anxiously
expected at her brother's court. But her coming had
been repeatedly delayed by protracted iUness, and
Isabella's letters show how bitterly she had been
disappointed in her hopes of once more welcoming
this dear companion. When a year before Elisa-
betta, instead of coming to Mantua, had been ordered
to take the baths of Viterbo, the Marquis sent his
sister's old friend, the Castellan Silvestro Calandra, to
cheer her solitude, with the following letter, which
does justice both to the warmth of Isabella's heart
and the excellence of her sense : —
" By the love I bear you, my dearest sister, I
must say this one thing, that I hope the first bath
you take will be a steadfast resolve to avoid all
unwholesome things and live on those which give
health and strength. Above all, I hope you will force
yourself to take regular exercise on foot and horse-
back, and to join in pleasant conversation, in order
to drive away melancholy and grief, whether they
arise from mental or bodily causes. And you will,
I hope, also resolve to think of nothing but of your
health in the first place, and of your own honour
and comfort in the second place, because in this
fickle world we can do nothing else, and those who
1 Luzio, / Preceitori d' Isabella d'Este, p. 25.
68 THE DUCHESS OF URBINO
do not know how to spend their time profitably,
allow their lives to slip away with much sorrow and
little praise. I have said all this, not because Your
Highness, being most wise yourself, does not know
all this far better than I do, but only in the hope
that, being aware of my practice, you may the more
willingly consent to live and take recreation as I do,
and as the Castellan will be able to inform you.
And my husband is well content that he should
remain with Your Highness until you leave the baths
and as long afterwards as you choose, always on the
understanding that you will soon come to Mantua,
since otherwise he will not only recall the Castellan,
but will, if possible, renounce all his love and connec-
tion with you ! "
Calandra himself was given a letter couched in the
same terms, giving him leave to remain with the
Duchess as long as she persevered in her intention
of coming to Mantua. " If, however, the Duchess
changes her mind," wrote the imperious young
Marchesa, " not only are you to return at once, but
you are also to assure her that neither you, nor any
one else, will be sent to her from us, and that the
tender love we bear her wUl undergo a complete
change."
But, although Elisabetta returned from Viterbo in
somewhat better health, fresh causes arose to delay
her visit to Mantua. First Guidobaldo fell ill, then
he took his wife with him to Rome, after which she
had a fresh attack of her old gastric complaint.
When, in January 1493, Isabella heard that, instead
of coming to Mantua, the Duchess had been sent to
take the baths of Porretta, she began to despair of
ever seeing her again, and wrote saying that nothing
COMES TO MANTUA 69
could give her pleasure this carnival, since all the fine
plans which she had made for their mutual amuse-
ment were blown to the winds ! " And the time
which I hoped to spend in joyful intercourse to-
gether 1 will now pass in dreary solitude, sitting alone
in my studio lamenting your illness and praying God
soon to restore you to health, so that if our desires
may not be granted this carnival, they may at least
be satisfied before the end of Lent."
This last wish was happily fulfilled. On the 9th
of March the Duchess started for Mantua, and
Isabella sent the poet Picenardi with his lyre, in the
bucentaur which went out to meet her, in order that
he might beguile the journey with music and song.
The Marchesa herself and the chief citizens went
to meet Elisabetta at Revere, and brought her back
to Mantua amidst universal rejoicing. " And I really
think," wrote Isabella to her mother a few days later,
" that she is already beginning to feel the good effects
of her native air and of the caresses with which I
load her all day." ^
1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, pp. 58-62.
CHAPTER V
1491—1493
Correspondence of Isabella with her family and friends ; with
merchants and jewellers — Her intellectual interests — Love of
French romances and classical authors — Greek and Hebrew
translations and devotional works — Fra Mariano and
Savonarola — Antonio Tebaldeo — Isabella's friendships —
Niccolo da Correggio — Sonnets and eclogues composed for
her — Her love of music — Songs and favourite instruments
— Atalante Migliorotti's lyre — Isabella's camerino in the
Castello — Liombeni decorates her studiolo — Mantegna
returns from Rome — Paints Isabella's portrait — Giovanni
Santi at Mantua.
Nothing is more remarkable in the history of
Isabella than the vast correspondence which she
carried on with the most different personages on the
greatest variety of subjects. Her appetite for news
was insatiable, her curiosity boundless. There was
nothing which did not excite her interest, from the
most important affairs of state down to the newest
fashion in dress or jewellery, from the most recent
discoveries in the New World or the last cantos of
Ariosto's "Orlando" to the purchase of a carved
turquoise or a Persian kitten. And she entered into
the smallest details on these subjects with the same
keen zest, and gave her orders with the same clearness
and minuteness, whether the defence of the State or
the painting of an illuminated missal were in question.
The correspondence which she kept up with her
relatives alone during these first years after her mar-
riage must have occupied many hours. She wrote
70
^
CORRESPONDENCE OF ISABELLA 71
weekly letters to her mother at Ferrara, to her sister
Beatrice and Lodovico Sforza at Milan, to Elisabetta
Gonzaga at Urbino, and corresponded frequently
with her half-sister Lucrezia Bentivoglio and her
husband, as well as with her own brothers. Alfonso
d'Este, her eldest brother, was deeply attached to this
sister, who was only two years older than himself,
and who shared his literary and artistic tastes. One
day in the autumn of 1490, after paying Isabella a
visit at Mantua, he sent her a long description of a
tournament at Bologna, in which his brother-in-law
Annibale Bentivoglio appeared in the guise of
Fortune and Count Niccolo Rangone figured as
Wisdom. Both princes were attended by pages in
French, German, Hungarian and Moorish costumes,
and recited allegorical verses and broke lances after
the approved fashion of the day. "I cannot tell
you," writes the enthusiastic boy, "how gallantly
Messer Annibale bore himself, but I felt sorry for
Count Niccolo when his horse stumbled and fell."
A few months later he vsTote to tell his sister that
a new island had been discovered on the coast of
Guinea, and sent her draAvings of the strange race
of men who dwelt there and of their horses and
clothes, as well as of the trees and products of the
country.
The choice of new robes and jewels, of furs and
camoras naturally took up a large part of Isabella's
time and thoughts in these early days. She was in
constant communication with merchants and gold-
smiths, with embroiderers and engravers of gems.
Countless were the orders for rings, seals, diamond
rosettes and arrows, rubies, emeralds, and enamels
which she sent to her agents at Ferrara and Venice.
72 ORDERS FOR JEWELS
One day she must have a cross of diamonds and pearls
as a gift for her favourite maid-of-honour Brogna, the
next she sends to Genoa for a choice selection of
corals and turquoises. When she hears that her
father has a rosary of black amber beads and gold
and enamelled roses, she desires a Ferrara jeweller
to make her one like it without delay, and when
her sister Beatrice wears a jewelled belt brought
from France, made in imitation of a cordone di S.
Francesco, she writes to ask for the pattern in order
that she may copy it. / The following letter to her
father's agent, Ziliolo, who was starting on a journey
to France in April 1491, is a characteristic specimen
of the commissions which she gave her servants and
of her eagerness to see her wishes gratified.
" I send you a hundred ducats," she says, " and
wish you to understand that you are not to return
the money if any of it is left, after buying the things
which I want, but are to spend it in buying some
gold chain or anything else that is new and elegant.
And if more is required, spend that too, for I had
rather be in your debt so long as you bring me the
latest novelties. But these are the kind of things
that I wish to have — engraved amethysts, rosaries
of black amber and gold, blue cloth for a camora,
black cloth for a mantle, such as shall be without
a rival in the world, even if it costs ten ducats a
yard ; as long as it is of real excellence, never mind !
If it is only as good as those which I see other
people wear, I had rather be without it ! " She
goes on to ask Ziliolo not to forget to bring back
some of the finest tela di Eensa — the linen made
at Rheims, which was in great request at Italian
courts, and ends by begging him to lose no chance
GOLD AND SILVER WORK 73
of hunting out some rare and elegant trifles for
her use.^
The commissions with which Zorzo Brognolo, the
Mantuan envoy at Venice, was charged, were still
more varied. Silks and velvets of Oriental manu-
facture, brocades patterned over with leopards and
doves and eagles, perfumes, Murano glass, silver and
niello work, very fine Rheims linen for the Marquis's
shirts, even finer and more delicate than the pattern
which she encloses — these are some of the things
which he must procure without a moment's delay.
Often, indeed, faithful Zorzo found it no easy task to
satisfy the demands of his impatient young mistress.
Skilled goldsmiths and engravers were slow to move
and apt to put off commissions and linger over the
work in a way that was very trying to Isabella's
patience. " If the bracelets we ordered months ago
are not here till the summer is over and we no longer
wear our arms bare, they will be of no use," she writes
on one occasion when the Jewish goldsmith, Ercole
Fedeli of Ferrara, had failed to execute her order
punctually. Another time the same artist kept her
waiting four years for a pair of silver bracelets, and
would, she declared, never have finished them in
her lifetime if Duke Alfonso had not thrown him
into the Castello dungeon ! But the work when it
came was so exquisitely finished that Isabella had
to forgive him and own that no other goldsmith
in the world was his equal. / And certainly the
scabbard which Ercole worked in niello for Cassar
Borgia, now in South Kensington Museum, and the
sword of state which he made for the Marquis
1 // Lusso di Isabella d'Este, A. Luzio in Nuova Antologia, 1896,
p. 453.
74 ENGRAVED GEMS
Francesco, now in the Louvre, deserve the high
praise which the Marchioness bestowed upon his
work. It was the same with Anichino, another
Ferrarese jeweller, who spent most of his time in
Venice and engraved gems in the most perfect style.
"Fortunate are those," sang a contemporary poet,
" who are endowed with the genius of Anichino, for
over them Time and Death have no power." " I will
not fail," wrote Zorzo Brognolo to his mistress in 1492,
" to urge Anichino to serve Your Highness quickly,
but he is a very capricious and eccentric man, and it
is necessary to hold him tight if you mean to get
work out of him I " As usual Isabella had to bide
the artist's pleasure and wait many weary months
before her turquoise was returned engraved with a
Victory. But when it came it was so beautifully
worked that she forgot her displeasure and sent
Anichino another gem to be engraved with a figure
of Orpheus, telling him with many flattering words
that he might be as slow as he hked, as long as the
work came so near to antique art. This time, however,
she owned to Brognolo that she was not altogether
satisfied, but did not dare tell the artist her opinion
for fear of exciting his wrath. " I know," she adds,
"the man is the best master in Italy, but unfor-
tunately he is not always in the right mood." ^
This fiine taste and quickness to recognise true
excellence naturally attracted the best artists into
Isabella's service. She might be hasty and im-
petuous in her orders; she often grumbled at the
cost of pictures and gems, tried to beat down the
price, and was undoubtedly difficult to please, but
1 Grayer, L'Art Ferrarais d I'epoque des Princes d'Este, vol. i.
pp. 575, 714, &c.
HER NEED OF MONEY 75
she was always ready to recognise good work and
to give the artist warm praise. Naturally, how-
ever, want of money often interfered with the
gratification of her wishes, and she was compelled
to return precious stones and finely carved gems
because, as she told the goldsmiths sorrowfully,
they were too dear. For the state of Mantua was
small and its revenues could not compare with those
of Milan or Ferrara. "Would to God!" Isabella
exclaimed when her brother-in-law Lodovico Sforza
displayed his treasures before her dazzled eyes —
" Would to God that we who spend money so gladly
had half as much ! " As it was, she often spent
more than she could afford, and owed large sums
to Taddeo and Piero Albano, the Venetian bankers,
who generally advanced money both to the Mar-
chesa and her husband. Often too she was forced
to pledge her jewels and even her costly robes to
raise money for political objects, to help Francesco
in his wars or buy a cardinal's hat for his brother.
The Mantuan agent Antonio Salimbeni wrote to
her from Venice in 1494, begging that she would
send him some money without delay, since he had all
the merchants in the city on his shoulders, and could
only give them good words, and hope that Her
Excellency would soon come to the rescue. But
Isabella was no spendthrift, and although she might
occasionally be led into extravagance, showed herself
to be as practical in the management of her fortune
as in everything else. When, in 1491, one of
her husband's estates was seized by the Venetian
merchant Pagano, Isabella hastened to redeem the
land, paying down 2000 ducats and begging the Doge
to be her security for the rest. Pagano began by rais-
76 FRENCH ROMANCES
ing objections, and evidently looked with some distrust
on the Marchesa's proposals, upon which Isabella lost
no time in paying down the money, saying proudly
to Brognolo : " He might have trusted us, for, as you
know, we would rather die than break our word."
But the raising of loans, and the purchase of
rare gems and costly brocades, of elegant trifles and
ornaments for her camerini were by no means the
only commissions which Brognolo had to execute for
his young mistress. From the first, intellectual
interests played a large part in Isabella's life at
Mantua. AU through the summer of 1491, she
was engaged in an active controversy with the
Moro's son-in-law Galeazzo di San Severino, on
the respective merits of the Paladins Rinaldo and
Orlando, and entered into the lists with her wonted
spirit and gaiety. On the one hand, she asked her
old friend, Matteo Boiardo, to send her the latter part
of his Orlando Innamorato, as yet in manuscript ; on
the other, she wrote to Brognolo on the 17th of
September : " We wish you to ask all the booksellers
in Venice for a list of aU the Italian books in prose or
verse containing battle stories and fables of heroes in
modern and ancient times, more especially those
which relate to the Paladins of France, and send
them to us as soon as possible."^ Zorzo executed
this commission with the utmost despatch, and on
the 24th, sent her a list of works, containing, amongst
others, a Life of Julius Caesar, the romances of
Boccaccio, Piccinino, Fierabraccio, and several trans-
lations from the French. Many other French and
Breton romances, tales of the San Graal, of King
1 Luzio e Renier in Giom. St. d. Lett. It, 1899, p- 8- See also
" Beatrice d'Este," p. 68, &c.
CLASSICAL AUTHORS 77
Arthur and his Round Table, of Lancelot, Tristan,
Amadys, AstoLfo, Morgante Maggiore and Rinaldo
di Montalbano, belonged to Isabella's library, and
are mentioned in the inventory which was drawn
up at Mantua in 1542, three years after her
death. Her Gonzaga cousins at Gazzuolo shared
this taste for French romances which Isabella had
brought from the court of the Estes, and many
years afterwards, when Gianfrancesco's widow,
Antonia del Balzo, was growing old, she begged
the Marchesa to lend her the "History of King
Arthur and the Round Table " and that of Gode-
froi de Bouillon. "Now that I am often ill and
unable to go out much, I like to have books read
aloud to me," she writes, " and find that this passes
the time pleasantly, especially when the story is
quite new to me." Isabella sent the books without
delay, and Antonia gratefully acknowledged the
parcel, saying that the French romances were read
to her while she was at work every day, and that her
brother-in-law Monsignore Lodovico was especially
glad to see them, since a youth in his household was
writing a book on Orlando, and hoped to find some
new incident or idea in them.^
But, dear as mediaeval romances were to Isabella's
heart, classical authors were dearer still. The great
Venetian Aldo Manuzio had not yet printed those
choice editions which gave her so much delight in
later years, but even in these early days her library
contained a large proportion of Latin authors, includ-
ing the works of Virgil and Horace, of Livy and
PHny, and the plays of Seneca, of Plautus and
Terence. She never mastered the Greek language,
1 Luzio e Renier, op. cit., pp. 8, 9, 12.
78 LOVE OF RARE BOOKS
but read the works of Greek writers in Latin or
Italian versions, and employed Demetrius Moschus
to translate the Lives of Plutarch and the Icones
of Philostratus, which as a treatise on painting
was of especial interest to herself and her contem-
poraries. In 1498, she was seized with a wish to read
Herodotus, and borrowed an Italian translation from
her cousin Alberto d'Este, which she kept over a year,
giving as an excuse for her delay in returning the
volume, that it was such a big one and that she had
not yet finished it. With the true spirit of the biblio-
phile, Isabella loved to add rare works to her library,
even when she could not read them, and was especially
proud of a Greek Eustathius, which Pope Clement
VII. was glad to borrow, and which she once lent
as a great favour to her cousin, Ceesar of Aragon,
begging him not to allow too many persons to see
the precious volume, lest its reputation should be
diminished I Even Hebrew literature occupied her
attention, and she employed a learned Jew to translate
the Psalms from the original, in order to satisfy her-
self that the text was correct. An illustrated Bible
was one of the first books which she desired Brognolo
to procure for her when she came to Mantua, and
some years later she paid Taddeo Albano fifty ducats
for an illuminated copy of the Seven Penitential
Psalms bound in a richly chased gold and silver
cover. A copy of St. Jerome's Epistles, which she
had borrowed from her old tutor Battista Guarino,
interested her so much that she caused the work
to be printed at Mantua in 1497.^ Even at this
early age the youthful Marchesa was fond of reading
the Fathers and of hearing sermons. Some of the
1 Luzio e Renier, op. cit., pp. 21-23.
SUOR OSANNA 79
most learned and eloquent friars of the day — the
General of the Carmelites, Fra Pietro da Novellara ;
the Mantuan Carmelite Battista Spagnoli, Padre
Francesco Silvestro of Ferrara, afterwards General of
the Dominican Order — were numbered among her
friends and correspondents.
Her relations with the Dominican nun, Osanna
dei Andreasi, were still more intimate. This devout
lady, a kinswoman of the Gonzagas, was regarded
by Francesco and all his family as the protectress of
Mantua, whose prayers they sought in time of war
and plague. She was a wise and noble woman,
whom the learned Francesco Silvestro held in high
esteem, , and as she was supposed to have received
the stigmata and to be endowed with prophetic
gifts, her fame extended far and wide. Beatrice
d'Este - induced her to visit Milan, where she was
received as an angel of light, and the Queen of
France, Anne of Brittany, asked her prayers that she
might bear a son. Isabella was deeply attached to
the B^ata Osanna, to whom she turned in all her
troubles, and after her death, in 1505, raised a splendid
tomb over her ashes and offered a silver head at her
shrine.' On one occasion the Marchesa believed the
good nun's prayers had saved her from a dangerous
illness, while on another they brought her instant
relief from a violent headache.^ And in an altar-piece
of the Vision of the Beata Osanna, painted by Bon-
signori, now in the Academy at Mantua, the portrait
of Isabella is introduced kneeling with three of her
ladies at the saint's feet.^
1 Donesmondi, Storia ecclesiastica di Mantova, ii. 90.
2 Mr. Berenson first drew my attention to this portrait, which
strongly resembles Leonardo's drawing of Isabella.
80 INTEREST IN SAVONAROLA
In 1492, Fra Mariano da Genazzano, the cultured
and popular Augustinian, whose polished oratory
at one time made him the rival of Savonarola in
Florence, preached a course of Lent sermons at Man-
tua, which pleased Isabella so much that she insisted
on keeping him at her court for Easter. On his
return to Ferrara, the friar told Duchess Leonora
how deeply he had been impressed with her
daughter's intelligence and devotion. " Indeed,"
wrote the gratified mother, "he praised you so
much that he almost made me believe you are
really aU that he said, and this would give me
the greatest pleasure in the world." ^ At the
same time, like all the Este princes, Isabella never
ceased to follow the career of Fra Mariano's rival
with the deepest interest. A volume of Savonarola's
sermons was in her library, and six months after his
death, she sent to Ferrara for a copy of the Miserere,
a commentary on the Fifty -first Psalm, which he
had written in prison before his execution. " I send
you the Miserere of Savonarola," wrote her brother
Alfonso on the 30th of October, "which I have
had copied by your wish, and which you will find
a worthy and devout book."^ For the great friar
of San Marco was a citizen of Ferrara, and neither
Ercole d'Este nor his children ever forgot that his
grandfather, Michele Savonarola, had held the post of
physician to the ducal family. But wide and varied
as was Isabella's interest in all forms of literature,
the study of poetry remained her favourite pursuit.
She was as indefatigable in her endeavours to obtain
the productions of living bards as those of dead
1 Luzio e Renier, op. cit, p. 62.
2 Bihliqfilo, i. 26.
ISABELLA'S VERSES 81
authors, and her correspondence in these early years
is as much concerned with sonnets and cauzoni as
with jewels and fine clothes. Antonio Tebaldeo, the
young poet who had already acquired considerable
reputation at the courts of Ferrara and Bologna, was
constantly sending her his strambotti and capitoli, and
the insatiable Marchesa was always begging for more.
"Find out Messer Tebaldeo," she writes in
December 1491, to Giacomo Trotti, her father's
envoy at Milan, "and beg him to send twenty or
twenty-five of the finest sonnets as well as two or
three capitoli which would give us the greatest possible
pleasure." Sometimes she herself tried to express her
thoughts in verse, and in one of his letters Tebaldeo
speaks with high praise of a certain strambotto of her
composition on the autumn trees which have lost their
leaves, and thanks heaven that one of his disciples
has attained an excellence to which he could never
aspire, prophesying that she will go far in this direc-
tion, and achieve miracles in poetry. Isabella, however,
took these flattering words for what they were worth,
and although she occasionally wrote verses in private,
steadily refused to aUow her productions to be
handed round among her courtiers, saying that such
attempts were more likely to bring her ridicule than
fame.^
But among all courtly poets of her circle the one
whom she admired the most was her kinsman
Niccolo da Correggio. From her earliest childhood
she remembered him as the handsomest and most
accomplished cavalier at the court of Ferrara, dis-
tinguished aUke by his prowess in war and tourna-
1 S. Davari, La Musica in Mantova, in Riv. St. Mant., i. 54 ; and
A. LuziOj / Precettori d' Isabella d'Este, p. 53.
VOL. I. F
82 NICCOLO DA CORREGGIU
ments, and by his polished courtesy and rare gift
of poetic invention. His fame was celebrated by
the most illustrious poets and writers of the age.
Ariosto and Sabba da Castiglione sang his praises in
the next century. Sperandio struck a noble medal
in his honour, and Isabella herself spoke of him after
his death as the most perfect courtier and finished
poet in all Italy. The son of Duke Ercole's sister,
that fair Beatrice who was known as the Queen
of Feasts, and of a prince of the reigning house of
Correggio, who died before his son's birth in 1450,
Niccolo grew up at his uncle's court at Ferrara, and
was held in high favour by the Duke and all his
family. He had been sent to escort Leonora of
Aragon to Ferrara on her wedding journey, and had
accompanied her when she returned to Naples with
her children in 1477. He served with distinction in
the wars against Venice, and was taken prisoner and
kept in captivity for nearly a year, to the great
distress of the Duchess, who entered warmly into
the grief of his mother and of his wife, Cassandra,
a daughter of the famous captain, Bartolommeo
CoUeoni.
In 1487, Niccolo's pastoral play of " Cefalo " was
performed at Ferrara, and his eclogues and sonnets
were in the hands of all lovers of poetry. Isabella
frequently alludes to the choice copy of his poems,
in white damask embroidered with diamonds, which
he had presented to her father, and her own library
contained several volumes of his works. A copy of
his romances was bound in red velvet, while his
eclogues and another book called // Giardino were
bound in black leather enriched with gold and
silver clasps. Niccolo had been present at Isa-
HIS DEVOTION TO ISABELLA 83
bella's wedding, and again at that of Beatrice at
Milan, where, although past forty years of age, he
was pronounced by general consent to be the most
splendid figure in all that brilliant company.^ After
this, the influence of his mother, who had married the
Moro's half-brother Tristan Sforza, and the marked
favour shown him by Lodovico, induced him to settle
at Milan, where he played a leading part in court
and carnival festivities during Beatrice's lifetime.
But, although he rarely visited Mantua, he stiU
remained deeply attached to Isabella, whose devoted
slave he professed himself and with whom he kept
up an animated correspondence. He addresses her
habitually as Madonna unica viia, his beloved patrona
and signotia, and speaks of her in his letters to others
as la mia Illustrissima Isabella. And on one memor-
able occasion, when a discussion arose at the Moro's
palace of Vigevano on the illustrious women of the
day, Niccolo da Correggio ventured to speak of the
Marchesa as the first lady in the world — la prima
donna del mondo.^
In February 1491, Niccolo was present at the
fetes held at Ferrara in honour of Alfonso d'Este and
Anna Sforza's marriage, and on this occasion showed
Isabella a complete collection of his works in manu-
script, with a dedicatory epistle to herself, destined to
be pubhshed at some future date. At the same time
he promised her a new poem of his own composition,
as well as a translation of one of Virgil's eclogues.
In the course of that spring he was sent by Lodo-
vico on a mission to France, and before his departure,
' T. ChalcuSj Residua, p. 95.
2 Luzio, Niccolo da Correggio, in Giom. St. d. Lett. It, vol. xxi.
pp. 239-241.
84 HER ADMIRATION FOR HIS POEMS
wrote to the Marchesa assuring her of his devotion
and offering to execute any commission for her
in Paris. On his return, Isabella lost no time in
reminding him of his promise, and ended her letter
with these characteristic words : " Since I am of
an essentially greedy and impatient nature, I hold
those things the most dear, which I can obtain the
soonest." But the young princess had to restrain
her impatience, and it was not until the close of the
year that she received the fable of Psyche — a short
poem in ottava rima, with an elaborate dedication
which is still preserved in a few rare editions.
Meanwhile rumours of Niccolo's new fable had
reached Mantua, and a Milanese poet wrote to tell
one of Isabella's favourite courtiers, Jacopo dAtri,
Count of Pianella, that he would soon see the Psyche
composed for his illustrious Madonna. "It is
finished," he goes on to say, " and will, I feel sure,
please you, but on your honour I beg you not to say
a word to any one, as the author does not wish
the report to precede the presentation of his poem." ^
Isabella was anxious that her accomplished kinsman
should spend the next carnival at Mantua, but
he was detained at Milan, to organise the festi-
vities at the Moro's court, and she did not see
him until she went to Pavia and Milan that
summer. Early in 1493, Niccolo sent her a copy of
the Rime composed by his friend Gasparo Visconti,
one of the sweetest singers of Beatrice's court,
but the Marchesa received the gift coldly, remark-
ing that she should have much preferred to have
the poems before they were printed, and begging
Niccolo to send her anything new of his own, " for
1 Luzio, op. cit, p. 250.
A SILVER LYRE 85
without flattery I may say that your verses please
me better than any other poems of the present
day."^
But Isabella did not only turn to Niccolo da
Correggio for verses and eclogues. She consulted
him on many subjects and asked him to gratify
many different fancies. When they met at Milan
in the autumn of 1492, he invented a new design
of cunningly interlaced links with which she pro-
posed to adorn her next camora. This was the
famous fantasia del vinci, which her sister Beatrice
borrowed with her permission, and wore, worked
in massive gold, on a purple robe, at the wedding
of Bianca Sforza and the Emperor Maximilian.^
And when the Duchess of Urbino was spend-
ing the following summer at Mantua, and the two
young princesses constantly sang and played to-
gether, Isabella, seized with a wish to learn some
new instrument, wrote to beg Niccolo for the
loan of a wonderful silver lyre which had been
lately made for him by the renowned Florentine,
Atalante Migliorotti. As usual, this courteous
gentleman expressed his eagerness to comply with
her request, and wrote, from Correggio, saying that
his silver lyre should be sent to her as soon as he
returned to Ferrara. " If you had not asked for
Atalante's lyre," he remarks, " I would have sent
you a smaller one, better fitted for a beginner, but
since you wish for this one, I hope the name of
Atalante and the memory of the giver will dispose
you to learn the art with the greater readiness and
affection." He goes on to explain the meaning of
1 Davari, Riv. St. Mant, i. p. 54.
2 « Beatrice d'Este," p. 208, &c.
86 ATALANTE MIGLIOROTTI
a new cantata entitled " Mopsa and Daphne,"
which had been performed at Milan last carnival,
and which he is now sending her, but if she
does not like it, promises to let her have another
and a more attractive one, adding that she has only
to ask, for he wiU be never weary of doing her
service.^
The lute, as we know, was Isabella's favourite
instrument, on which she accompanied herself with
rare skill and charm. A few months after her
marriage her father allowed his favourite musician,
the Constance organist Giovanni Martini, to pay
a visit to Mantua and give her singing lessons.
After his return to Ferrara the German priest sent
his pupil a book of songs, begging her to remember
his directions and practise them daily. At the
same time Duke Ercole sent Isabella his own book
of songs, in order that she might transcribe her
favourite melodies, begging her not to keep it too
long, but return it as soon as possible. In 1491,
another Ferrarese musician, Girolamo da Sestola,
came to Mantua to give her singing lessons, and
after his return to Ferrara, remained one of her
most constant correspondents. Now, however, a
sudden fancy to learn other instruments seems to
have seized her, and this same summer she wrote
to the great musician Atalante himself, begging him
to send her a silver citarra or lute, with as many
strings as he chooses, but which shall be a "fair
and gallant thing to see." Atalante, it appears,
had visited Mantua in 1491, at the pressing en-
treaty of the Marquis, to take the leading part in
a performance of Polizianio's " Orfeo," which took
^ Luzio, op. cit., p. 243.
ISABELLA'S ROOMS 87
place at Marmirolo. In 1494, the Marchesa gave
the Florentine musician a special token of favour
by standing sponsor to his new-born child, who was
held at the font by the Ferrarese envoy Manfredi,
and named after her.^
The decoration of her rooms in the Castello
was another subject which occupied much of the
young Marchesa's thoughts at this time. Since the
death of the Marchesa Barbara, ten years before,
there had been no lady to reign over the court
of Mantua, and Isabella may well have longed to
bring some of the grace and beauty of her mother's
camerini to brighten her new home in the grim
old Castello di Corte. The apartments which she
occupied during the greater part of her married
Ufe, were on the Piano Nobile of the Tower, close
to the Camera Dipinta, as the nuptial chamber
decorated with Andrea's frescoes was commonly
called. These rooms looked over the waters of the
lake and the long bridge of San Giorgio, and a
staircase in the corner close to the Sala degli
Sposi, led to her husband's apartments on the
ground floor. Unfortunately these camerini, which
Isabella occupied for more than thirty years, have
undergone many alterations, and were mostly
stripped of their decorations under the Austrian
rule, when the Castello was inhabited by soldiers
for a hundred and fifty years. But one little
room looking towards the lake, in the corner
of the Castello, near the Palazzina or annexe
added on by Isabella's son, Federico, at the time of
his own marriage, still retains traces of the original
' D'Ancona, Origini del Teatro Italiano, vol. ii. ; and Davari,
op. cit.
88 DECORATION OF HER STUDIO
decorations planned by the young Marchesa. Here
we still find remains of gilding and ultramarine on
the barrel- vaulted ceiling, and recognise the Gonzaga
devices carved on the frieze of delicately inlaid wood-
work. Here too, finely wrought in gold on an azure
ground, are the musical notes and rests which were
Isabella's favourite emblem, the impresa or device
which she loved to wear on her embroidered robes,
and the playing cards tied in packs together with
the mystic numbers to which Paolo Giovio and other
contemporaries allude. This charmingly decorated
little room was, there can be little doubt, the
studiolo which is so often mentioned in Isabella's
letters, the peaceful retreat where she and Ehsabetta
Gonzaga spent their happiest days, surrounded by
the books and pictures, the cameos and musical
instruments which they loved.
At her first coming to Mantua, Isabella brought
a whole train of artists, but most of these soon
returned to Ferrara, and the court-painter, Ercole
Roberti, suffered so much from sea-sickness on the
journey up the Po, and was so much exhausted
with his labours before the wedding, that he left
suddenly, without even bidding the Marchesa fare-
well.^ A Mantuan painter, Luca Liombeni, was
the artist whom she entrusted with the decoration
of her studiolo, as we learn from an imperious
letter which she addressed to him from Ferrara, on
the 6th November 1491.
" Since we have learnt, by experience," wrote
the impatient young princess, " that you are as
slow in finishing your work as you are in everything
else, we send this to remind you that for once you
' Gruyer, op. cii., ii. 154.
THE PAINTER LIOMBENI 89
must change your nature, and that if our studioh
is not finished on our return, we intend to put you
into the dungeon of the Castello. And this, we
assure you, is no jest on our part."
Upon this the terrified painter offered the
humblest apologies to his mistress, who replied on
the 12th of November : —
" In answer to your letter, we are glad to hear that
you are doing your utmost to finish our studioh, so
as not to be sent to prison. We enclose a list of the
devices which we wish to have painted on the frieze,
and hope that you will arrange them as you think
best, and make them appear as beautiful and elegant
as possible. You can paint whatever you like inside
the cupboards, as long as it is not anything ugly,
because if it is, you will have to paint it all over again
at your own expense, and be sent to pass the winter
in the dungeon, where you can, if you like, spend a
night for your pleasure now, to see if the accom-
modation there is to your taste ! Perhaps this may
make you more anxious to please us in future. On
our part, we will not let you want for money, and
have told Cusatro to give you all the gold that you
require." ^
Meanwhile Mantegna had returned from Rome
in September 1491, after two years' absence from
Mantua. He brought with him a letter from
Isabella's old tutor, Battista Guarino, whom he
had formerly known at Verona, begging the Mar-
chesa to look graciously on this master, whose
excellent genius was indeed too weU known to need
any recommendation, and assuring her that he was
as charming by nature as he was gifted in his art,
1 Luzio, I Precettori, Sec, pp. 18, 19.
90 MANTEGNA'S RETURN
" Egli h tutto gentile" ^ This description, it must be
owned, hardly agrees with all that we hear of Andrea's
irritable and suspicious temper. But from the first,
Isabella appreciated his rare talent and proved a kind
patron and faithful friend to the great master. The
whole of the next year was devoted to his unfinished
Triumphs, and by a decree of February 1492, the
Marquis bestowed a fresh gift of land upon the
painter, " as a reward for the admirable works which
he formerly painted in the Chapel and Camera of our
Castello, and which in the Triumph of Caesar he is
now painting for us, in pictures which seem almost to
live and breathe."^ The works in the Chapel here
mentioned were in all probabihty the noble Triptych
now in the Uffizi, containing the Adoration, Circum-
cision, and Ascension, and the small altar-piece of the
Death of the Virgin, with the view of the lake and
bridge of S. Giorgio as seen from the Castello. This
last-named picture came to England in 1627, with
the chief treasures of the Gonzaga gallery, and is
described in Van der Doort's catalogue of Charles
the First's pictures as " a Mttle piece of Andrea
Montania, being the dying of Our Lady, the
Apostles standing about with white candles lighted
in their hands ; and in the landskip where the
town of Mantua is painted is the water-lake,
where a bridge is over the said water towards
the town. In a little ebony wooden frame." This
precious little painting, on which Isabella's eyes
must often have rested and which bore the words
" Mantua piece " in the King's own writing, was
1 W. BraghiroUi, in Giom. di Erud. Art., i. p. 202.
2 Archivio Gonzaga, Libra dei Decreti, 24, fol. 56, quoted by
Kristeller, op. cit., App. p. 486.
Photo, Hauser &■ Menet, Madrid
THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN
By Andrea Mantegna
[Madrid]
To/ace p. 90, vol. i
HIS PORTRAIT OF ISABELLA 91
bought at the sale of his pictures after his execu-
tion by the Spanish Ambassador Cardenas, and
now hangs in the Prado at Madrid.
By the end of 1492, the Triumphs were finally
completed, and Andrea was at length able to
execute a commission for Isabella. This was a
portrait of herself which she wished to send to
Isabella del Balzo, Countess of Acerra, the younger
sister of Gianfrancesco Gonzaga's wife, Antonia
del Balzo, who was apparently one of her intimate
friends.
In January 1493, Isabella d'Este wrote the
following letter to Jacopo d'Atri, her lord's envoy
at Naples : —
" In order to satisfy the most illustrious Madonna,
the Countess of Acerra, whom we love tenderly, we
have arranged to have our portrait taken by Andrea
Mantegna, and will ask him to send it to you in
order that you may present it to her before you
leave, and we hope that you will bring back the
portrait of the said Countess, since she has asked for
ours."
Jacopo dAtri returned to Mantua in April with
a drawing of the Countess, which Isabella acknow-
ledged gratefully in the following letter : —
" The sight of your picture gave us the liveliest
joy, since you are as dear to us as our only sister
Beatrice. If Our Lord God would only grant that
we might see you once more and embrace you, it
would make us happier than anything in the world.
This feehng prompted our urgent desire to possess
your portrait and thus in some measure satisfy the
longing of our heart. Now that we have your image
both on paper and in wax, we shall hold it very dear
92 GIOVANNI SANTI
and often look at it, although, from what Jacopo
says and from our own recollection, neither portrait
resembles you very much. But we know how
difficult it is to find painters who take good like-
nesses from life, and shall try to supply the artist's
deficiencies with the help of the information given
us by Margherita, Jacopo, and others who have lately
seen you, so that we may not be deceived in our idea
of you. We thank you exceedingly for your kind-
ness, and beg you to keep the promise made us
through Jacopo, that you will send us another on
panel, and we wiU do the same in compliance with
your request. We do not say that you will see a
beautiful picture, but at least you will have in your
house a portrait of one who is your most loving
sister."
But when, a fortnight later, Andrea's portrait was
finished, it failed to satisfy Isabella's critical taste.
" We are much vexed," she writes on the 20th of
April, " that we are unable to send you our portrait,
because the painter has done it so badly that it does
not resemble us in the very least. But we have
sent for a foreign artist who has the reputation of
taking excellent likenesses, and as soon as it is ready
we wiU send it to Your Highness, who wiU not forget
that we are altogether devoted to you."
The foreign master was Giovanni Santi, the father
of Raphael, who had been evidently recommended to
Isabella by her sister-in-law, the Duchess of Urbino.
Ehsabetta sent him without delay, and he spent some
time at Mantua that summer painting a series of family
portraits— probably for the decoration of some hall in
one of the Gonzaga villas — and began a picture of
Isabella. Unluckily, before it was finished^he fell ill
AT MANTUA 93
of fever, and was compelled to return to the healthier
climate of Urbino. Some months passed before Isa-
bella was able to inform her friend that the portrait
was ready, and would be sent to her straight from
Urbino.
" Most illustrious Madonna and dearest sister, in
order to satisfy Your Highness — not because our
countenance is so beautiful that it deserves to be
painted — we send you, by Simone da Canossa, cham-
berlain to the illustrious Duke of Calabria, a panel
portrait by the hand of Zohan de Sancte, painter to
the Duchess of Urbino, who is said to make good
likenesses, although from what we hear it seems that
this one might resemble us more."^
This Contessa dAcerra, to whom Isabella was
so fondly attached, became the second wife of her
uncle Federico, the last king of the house of Aragon
who reigned over Naples. After that monarch died
in France, his widow came back to Italy with her
daughters and ended her days at the court of his
nephew, Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara.
1 A. LuziOj I Ritratti d' Isabella d'Este in Emporium, 1900, p. 347.
CHAPTER VI
1493— 1494
Discovery of the New World — The news reaches Mantua — Birth
of the Moro's son — Isabella's journey to Ferrara and Venice
Reception by the Doge and Signory — Her relations with
Gentile Bellini — Return to Mantua — Francesco Gonzaga at
Venice — Death of Duchess Leonora — Birth of Leonora
Gonzaga — -Departure of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino
— Decorations of Marmirolo and Gonzaga.
While the young Gonzaga princesses were spending
the spring days together, singing Petrarch and Virgil
to the lute, or playing their favourite game of scar-
tino, great events were happening in the outer world.
On the 15th of March Columbus landed at Palos
on his return from his first voyage, and told the
wondering Spaniards of the New World which had
been discovered beyond the seas. Soon the news
reached the little blue and gold studiolo looking
over the Mantuan lakes, and we can picture to our-
selves the breathless excitement with which Isabella
and her sister-in-law read the marvellous traveller's
tales that came from Spain. On the 22nd of April,
Luca Fancelli, the old architect who had spent his
last forty years in the service of the Gonzagas, wrote
from Florence to tell his lord and master. Marquis
Francesco, these wonderful things.
" Your Highness," he says, " may have heard that
we have had letters here teUing us that the King of
Spain sent some ships over the seas, which, after a
94
VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS 95
voyage of thirty-six days, discovered certain islands,
amongst others a very big one lying east, with broad
rivers and terrible mountains, and a very fertile land,
inhabited by handsome men and women, who go
naked or only wear a cotton leaf round the waist.
This country abounds in gold, and the people are
very courteous and liberal of their property, and
there are quantities of palms of more than six dif-
ferent kinds, and some wonderfully taU trees. There
are other islands, five of which have been given
names, and one which is nearly as large as Italy.
And the rivers there run with gold, and there is
plenty of copper but no iron, and many other won-
ders, and you can neither see the Arctic nor the
Antarctic poles."
Further particulars came from two of Francesco's
servants, Giovanni dei Bardi and Giambattista Strozzi,
who had been sent to buy horses in Spain, and who
now wrote from Cadiz, saying : "A Savona sailor
named Columbus has landed here, bringing 30,000
ducats in gold, as well as pepper and other spices,
and parrots as big as falcons and as red as pheasants.
They found trees bearing fine wool, and others which
produce wax and linen fibres, and men like Tartars,
tall and active, with long hair falling over their
shoulders. They eat human flesh, and fatten men as
we do capons, and are called cannibals. ... It is
certain that these sailors have brought back a great
quantity of gold, sandal-wood, and spices, and what
1 myself have seen — sixty parrots of variegated
colours, eight of them as big as falcons — as well
as twelve Indians, who have been sent to the King.
And in that land they found great forests in which
the trees grow so thickly you could hardly see the
96 THE INDIANS IN Sl'AlW
sky, and if some men had not climbed to the top of
the trees they would never have got out again, and
many other things of which I have not time to tell."
A few months later, Isabella herself received the
following letter from a Cremona scholar at Ferrara
named Ponzone : " I hear that a man named Colum-
bus lately discovered an island for the King of Spain,
on which are men of our height but of copper-coloured
skin, with noses like apes. The chiefs wear a plate
of gold in their nostrils which covers the mouth, the
women have faces as big as wheels, and all go naked,
men and women ahke. Twelve men and four women
have been brought back to the King of Spain, but they
are so weakly that two of them fell ill of some sickness
which the doctors do not understand, and they had no
pulse and are dead. The others have been clothed,
and if they see any one who is richly clad they stroke
him with their hands and kiss his hands to show how
much they admire him. They seem intelligent, and are
very tame and gentle. No one can understand their
language. They eat of everything at table, but are
not given wine. In their own country they eat the
roots of trees and some big kind of nut which is like
pepper but yields good food, and on this they live."^
Meanwhile affairs nearer home claimed Isabella's
attention. Her mother's ladies wrote long letters
from Milan giving full particulars of the birth of
Beatrice's son, and of the splendid festivities and
rejoicings with which this event had been hailed.
Isabella's warm heart glowed with affection when she
heard of the belh puttino, and she told her sister how
she longed to hold the babe in her arms and cover
' G. Berghet, Fonti Ital. per la Storia delta Scoperta del Nuovo
Mondo, pp. 165, I69.
ISABELLA'S JOURNEY TO VENICE 97
him with kisses, but she was, not unnaturally,
inclined to wish for the same blessing herself, and to
envy Beatrice's prosperity. When Francesco Gon-
zaga, on his return from Venice in April, brought
his wife an invitation from the Doge to attend the
Ascension-tide festivities in that city and witness the
yearly ceremony of the espousals of Venice with the
sea, Isabella accepted the offer joyfully. But when,
a few days later, she heard from her mother that
Lodovico and his wife were coming to Ferrara in
May, and that Beatrice was to accompany Duchess
Leonora to ^'"enice, she told her husband that nothing
would induce her to visit ^''enice at the same time.
And since it was impossible to vie with the splendour
of her sister's train, she begged to be allowed to
appear without ceremony before the Doge as his
humble servant and daughter. Fortunately the
Moro's journey was delayed, and Isabella left Mantua
early in May and travelled by boat to Ferrara. On
her arrival she sent an affectionate note to her
sister-in-law Elisabetta, from whom she had parted
with much regret.
" When I found myself alone in the boat, without
your sweet company, I felt so forlorn I hardly knew
what I wanted or where I was. To add to my
comfort, the wind and tide were against us all the
way, and I often wished myself back in your room
playing at scartino ! " ^
On the same day Elisabetta wrote saying that
the weather had been so bad since the Marchesa's
departure that she had never left her room, and
complaining that she only felt half-ahve now that
1 Copialettera d' Isabella, lib. iii., quoted by Luzio, Mantova
e Urbino, p. 63.
VOL. I. G
98 HER RECEPTION
she was deprived of her sister's charming conver-
sation,^ After assisting at the wedding of Guide,
the son of the accomphshed poet Tito Strozzi, and at
a dramatic representation in honour of the occasion,
which afforded her great dehght, Isabella continued
her journey, accompanied by her brother-in-law, the
papal protonotary, Sigismondo, and reached Chioggia
on the 13th of May. Here she was lodged in the
palace of the Podesta, and sumptuously entertained at
the Signory's expense. After supper three 'S^enetian
patricians who had been present at her wedding—
Zorzo Pisano, Zaccaria Contarini, and Francesco
Capello — waited on her to bid her welcome in
the Doge's name, and escorted her to the palace
near San Trovaso occupied by her husband as
captain of the Republic's armies. Early the next
morning Isabella entered the port of Venice, passing
between the forts of Malamocco so quietly that she
hardly saw them, and was received at Santa Croce by
the Doge and Signory, together with the ambassadors
of Naples, Milan, and Ferrara.^ The scene that
followed is best described in her own words.
" Here I landed and met the Prince and ambas-
sadors coming out of the church, and kissed His
Serene Highness's hand and exchanged courteous
greeting, after which he led me to his bucentaur,
which was loaded with gentlemen and ladies. There
were ninety-three of these last, aU richly attired and
glittering with jewels, and I am sure that not one
among them had less than 6000 ducats worth of
precious stones upon her person. I sat on the
1 P. Ferrato, Leltere inedite di Donne Mantovane del Secolo, xv.
p. 56.
2 Luzio e Renier in Arch. St. Lomb., xvii. 366-372.
ISABELLA VISITS THE DOGE 99
Prince's right, and so, talking of many things, we
rowed up the Canal Grande to the sound of bells,
trumpets, and guns, accompanied by such a crowd of
boats and people that it was impossible to count
them. I cannot teU you, my dear lord, what lov-
ing attention and great honour are paid me here.
The very stones of Venice seem to rejoice and be
glad of my coming, and all for the love which they
bear Your Excellency. Not only my own expenses,
but those of my whole suite, are liberally defrayed,
and two gentlemen have been deputed to provide for
us. . . . To-morrow the Doge and Signory are to
give me an audience, and I wiU reply as you desired
to the best of my ability. I do not describe the
beauties of this place as you have been here so often,
and will only say that it seems to me, as it does to
you, the finest city which I have ever seen."
The next day forty gentlemen escorted the Mar-
chesa to the Sala del CoUegio, and the Doge, taking
her by the hand, placed her on a seat on the tribunal
on his right hand, while Sigismondo Gonzaga sat on
his left. Then, rising and bowing with charming
grace towards the Doge, Isabella expressed her joy at
being allowed to assure His Serenity of her reverence
and loyalty for him and this illustrious Signory under
whose shadow and protection her lord wished to live
and die, and begged to commend the Marquis, his
State, and herself to their protection. The Doge
replied in gracious words, and invited her to attend
vespers in San Marco, a function which Isabella, tired
with the heat and length of these ceremonies, found
very tedious. " I know," she wrote to Francesco,
"that to-morrow's ceremony will be no less weari-
some, but I wiU bear it cheerfully for the sake of
100 THE BELLINI
seeing so many fine things and doing honour to Your
Excellency."
The solemn espousals of Venice with the sea, and
the state banquet which followed, proved even more
fatiguing than Isabella expected. " Have pity on
me," she wrote that evening, " for I was never more
tired and bored than I am with all these ceremonies.
... It seems to me a thousand years until I can get
back to Mantua ! For, although Venice is a glorious
city and has no rival, to have seen it once is quite
enough for me." ^ The concluding days of her visit,
however, were spent more pleasantly. She visited
Queen Caterina Cornaro in her beautiful home at
Murano, assisted at a sitting of the Great Council,
and went to the Church of S. Zaccaria to hear the
nuns sing. She spent one afternoon with her hus-
band's uncle, the Duke of Bavaria, who was staying
in Venice and showed her the most cordial affection ;
and she visited the ducal palace and saw the noble
frescoes which Gentile and Giovanni Belhni were
painting in the Council-hall. On this occasion she
probably made the acquaintance of the painters
themselves, whose sister Niccolosia was the wife of
Andrea Mantegna, and saw the wonderful portrait of
Sultan Mahomet II. which Gentile had lately brought
back from Constantinople. At the same time she
expressed a great wish to have a portrait of the Doge
Agostino Barbarigo upon which Gentile was engaged,
and, after her return to Mantua, she desired Antonio
Salimbeni to remind the painter of her request, and
to beg that he would send the Marquis plans of Cairo
and Venice. On the 1st of October the Mantuan
agent informed his lord that Gentile would gladly
1 Luzio e Renier, op. at., p. 371.
ISABELLA RETURNS TO MANTUA 101
oblige him and his illustrious lady, but three weeks
later he excused himself on the plea of pressing
engagements and begged the Marehesa to write to
the Doge herself on the subject. Accordingly Isa-
bella addressed a letter to the Doge, which was duly
delivered by her envoy Battista Scalona, begging him
to gratify her earnest desire to possess his portrait.
" The Most Serene Prince," wrote Scalona, " called
one of his secretaries and bade him give the Marehesa
the most gracious answer, explaining that Gentile's
portrait was already promised to his nephew, but that
he would desire the painter to have it copied for her
without delay." Since, however, we find no mention
of a picture by Gentile Bellini in Isabella's collection,
it is doubtful if the work was ever executed. But
the plan of Cairo which Gentile had promised " on
the faith of a cavalier " to let the Marquis have was
really brought to Mantua by Scalona on the 22nd of
December, together with an old plan of the Piazza di
San Marco and the ducal palace, by the hand of his
father, Jacopo Bellini.^
On the 20th of May, Isabella left Venice, and
spent the night at Padua. After paying her vows
at the famous Basilica of II Santo, she went on to
Vicenza and Verona, where she was received with
great honour, and entertained at the expense of the
Signory. Meanwhile her return was impatiently
awaited by Elisabetta, who wrote charming letters
to her absent sister, saying how much she missed
her sweet companionship, greatly as she rejoiced to
hear of the honours which had been paid her in
Venice, and begging her to return quickly, lest the
1 Yriarte, Isabelle. d'Este et les Artistes de son temps ; Gazette des
Beaux Arts, xv. p. 216.
102 THE VILLA OF PORTO
excessive heat should injure her health.^ The Mar-
quis was superintending the works at his favourite
villa of Marmirolo, and only paid his sister flying
visits, so that the Duchess gladly obeyed Isabella's
invitation to meet her at Porto, outside Mantua,
" where," she wrote, " we may together enjoy the
pure country air and teU each other all that has
happened since we parted," ^
The two princesses spent the next six weeks in
this villa, which Francesco had lately bestowed on
his wife, and which she was to improve and beautify
so much in future years. Here they read and sang
together, in the terraced gardens on the Mincio,
and Jacopo di San Secondo, the accomplished viol-
player, who had been sent from Milan as a special
act of courtesy on Lodovico Moro's part, serenaded
them with exquisite music through the long summer
evenings. Isabella was blissful, and not even the
accounts which the Marquis sent from Venice
of the splendid fetes in honour of her mother and
sister could make her wish to be there. " To say
the truth," she wrote to Duchess Leonora, " all
these fetes and ceremonies are very much aUke."
She was better pleased to hear from her husband of
the excellent impression which she herself had made
on the Doge and Senators. Wherever he went, the
praises of her charms rang in his ears. Everywhere
he heard how honourably she had been entertained,
and with what infinite tact and skiU she had behaved.
He himself could not commend her wisdom and
discretion too highly, and all he now begged was that
his wife would take great care of her health and
* Ferrato, op. cit, p. 85.
2 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 67.
DEATH OF LEONORA 103
be of good courage for his sake. The warmth of
Francesco's affection for Isabella was evidently in-
creased, not only by gratitude for her good offices
with the Venetian Signory, but by the hopes of an
heir which she had begun to entertain.
In July, the Marchesa tore herself reluctantly
away from her sister-in-law to visit her mother,
whose health was giving her family anxiety, and
spent a month at Ferrara. It was the last time
that she ever saw the good Duchess, who died on
the 11th of October of a gastric fever which carried
her off in a few days. Francesco Gonzaga hastened
to Ferrara, but gave orders that the sad news should
be kept from the Marchesa until his return. But
when no letters came from the Duchess for a whole
week, Isabella's fears were aroused, and she heard
from a Milanese correspondent, " who," as Capilupi
wrote to the Marquis, " must have been either very
imprudent or still more wicked," that her beloved
mother had been dead three days. Happily no harm
was done, and after the first outburst of grief Isabella
showed her usual good sense and self-control. The
highest honours were paid to the dead Duchess both
at Ferrara and at Mantua. The saintly friar, Bernar-
dino da Feltre, preached the funeral sermon, young
Ariosto wrote an elegy on her death, and Latin
orations were pronounced by some of the most dis-
tinguished humanists of the day. But more touch-
ing than any of these pompous tributes was a letter
in which Battista Guarino poured out the grief of
his soul to his old pupil.
" If I had a hundred tongues, dearest lady," he
wrote, " I could not express the grief which I feel at
the death of our Madonna. I long to fly to you and
104 BIRTH OF ISABELLA'S DAUGHTER
comfort you, but am myself in sore need of consola-
tion. The whole city is weeping for our dead lady,
and I, who received so much kindness from her, am
more unhappy than any one, and can only take
comfort in feeling that this is the will of God.
I am sure that none of those saints whom the
Church has canonised, ever made a better or more
devout end than she did, as you will learn from
a few words which I spoke over her grave, which
I will send you, in memory of this virtuous and
excellent lady. And I will see that Your Excel-
lency is not the last to receive a copy, for I have
always looked upon you as my mistress, but how
much more now that I have lost her who was my
sole hope and refuge ! Forgive me if I cannot say
more, but tears will not allow me to write. — Your
faithful servant, Battista." ^
Fortunately for the Marchesa's happiness, she was
able to forget her grief in her new hopes, and on the
last day of the year 1492, she gave birth to her first
child — a daughter, in whom, as she wrote to her aunt
Beatrice, the wife of Matthias Corvinus, King of
Hungary, "the name and blessed memory of my
mother shall live again." Congratulations poured
in from all sides. Fra Mariano and the holy nun
Osanna sent the mother and child their blessing, and
the poor fool Mattello wrote in his maddest and
merriest mood, telhng his dear Madonna not to have a
thought or care in the world, now that she had given
birth to a lovely daughter. He proceeded to address
the new-born princess as Leonora zentile — Leonora
mia bella — Leonora mia cara, informed her that he
was coming from Marmirolo to her christening, and
I Luzio e Renier in Giorn, St. 4- Lett., vol. xxxv.
GIOVANNI DEI MEDICI 105
ended by begging her father the Marquis for a dole
on this happy occasion. Isabella herself however did
not conceal her disappointnaent at the sex of the
child, as we learn from the letter which she wrote
to her sister on New Year's Day. " You will have
heard that I have a daughter and that both she and
I are doing well, although I am sorry not to have
a son. But since this is the will of God, she will be
dear to me." ^ The child received the names of
Leonora Violante Maria, and Lodovico Sforza, his
wife Beatrice, the Doge of Venice, and Lorenzo di
Pierfrancesco dei Medici were among the sponsors.
None of these illustrious personages, however, were
able to be present at the christening, but Lorenzo
dei Medici wrote a courteous letter to the Marquis,
thanking him for the honour which he had paid him
and congratulating him and the Marchesa on the
happy event. " I hope," he adds, " that this new-
born daughter may grow up to be a great joy to
you, and that God will give you sons in future."
Since he was unfortunately too unweU to attend the
christening, he promised to send his brother, Giovanni
dei Medici, to take his place. This prince, who
soon afterwards became the third husband of Cate-
rina Sforza, the famous Madonna of Forli, visited
Mantua on the 2nd of March, and was entertained
by Isabella, as we learn from the following note to
her absent lord ; —
" The Magnificent Giovanni dei Medici arrived
this morning in time for dinner. I have given him
rooms in the Corte and sent Giovanni Pietro Gonzaga
and Lodovico Uberti to wait on him. After dinner
he paid me a visit, and I entertained him and showed
1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 69.
106 ELISABETTA LEAVES MANTUA
him the Camera and the Triumphs and afterwards
took him to see our little girl." ^
The Camera was the Sala degh Sposi, decorated
with Mantegna's frescoes, while his newly completed
Triumphs hung in a hall in that portion of the
CasteUo known as the Corte Vecchia, and were not
removed to Francesco's new palace of San Sebastiano
until the year 1506.
Elisabetta Gonzaga had been induced to remain
with Isabella for her confinement, and only returned
to Urbino on the 20th of January, with her husband
Duke Guidobaldo, who came to spend Christmas at
Mantua. Her departure was greatly lamented by
the Marchesa, who sent her a tender little note on
the same day, saying how sadly she missed her sweet
and loving conversation. " It seems strange enough,"
she adds, " to be without you as long as I am in bed,
but it win be much worse when I leave the house —
for there is no one whom I love like you, excepting
my only sister, the Duchess of Bari." Her recovery,
however, proved rapid. A week later she rode out
through the town, to the joy of all the people, and
the next day went to pay her vows at S. Maria deUa
Grazie, a favourite sanctuary of the Gonzaga princes,
on the other side of the lakes, five miles from
Mantua.
Early in February, we find her enjoying hunting
parties and theatricals, at Marmirolo, that superb
country-house which Francesco Gonzaga delighted
to adorn. For the last three years architects and
artists had been busy here. Mantegna's son Fran-
cesco had painted a series of Triumphs on canvas, in
1 Archivio Gonzaga, quoted by P. Kristeller, A^idrea Mantegna,
App.
DECORATIONS OF MARMIROLO 107
imitation of his father's great works, and both this
artist and the Veronese master Bonsignori, who had
entered the Marquis's service in 1488, were now
engaged in decorating certain halls with views
of Greek and Turkish cities. Constantinople,
Adrianople, Gallipoli and Rhodes were all repre-
sented in the Camera greca, and groups of Turkish
women bathing and going to mosque, as well as a
portrait of the Sultan's ambassador, were painted on
one of the walls. The plans provided by Gentile
Bellini were evidently destined to hang in three
rooms, and one hall, we are told, contained a Mappa-
mondo drawn in charcoal. In 1496, the Marquis
apphed to Giovanni Bellini for a map of Paris, and
the painter promised to do his best to satisfy His
Excellency, but said he could not vouch for its
correctness, since he had never been in France.
Francesco addressed the same request to Lorenzo dei
Medici when he asked him to stand godfather to his
infant daughter, but such a thing, it appeared, was
not to be found in the whole of Florence. Isabella,
as might be expected, shared her husband's taste for
topographical plans and maps. Many years after-
wards, she ordered copies to be made of a celestial
and terrestrial globe in the Vatican Library, and sent
to Venice for the latest plans of Constantinople and
Cairo.
CHAPTER VII
1494.— 1495
Journey of Isabella to Loreto and Urbino — Letters from Gubbio
and Urbino— Charles VIII. enters Italy — The Marquis of
Mantua refuses his offers — Visit of Isabella to Milan — Con-
quest of Naples by the French — League against France —
Francesco Gonzaga, captain of the armies of the League —
Isabella governs Mantua — Battle of the Taro — Heroism of
Francesco Gonzaga — Rejoicings at Venice and Mantua — The
Jew Daniele Norsa and Mantegna's Madonna della Vittoria.
As soon as the carnival f§tes at Marmirolo were
ended and her infant daughter had been christened,
Isabella set out on a pilgrimage to Loreto, to fulfil
a vow which she had made to Our Lady before the
birth of her child. She started on the 10th of March,
taking with her an offering of chased gold ornaments,
worked by the skilful Mantuan goldsmith, Barto-
lommeo Meliolo, who had lately been appointed
Master of the Mint, and whose medals of the
Gonzaga princes are well known. Her original
intention had been to spend Holy Week at Urbino
with her sister-in-law, but the Duchess begged her
to put off her visit tiU after Easter, since it was
difficult to obtain sufficient supplies of fish at
Urbino to feed a large number of guests. So
after spending a few days at Ferrara and a night
at Ravenna, where she visited the ancient churches
and admired the mosaics, the Marchesa travelled
by Pesaro and Ancona to Loreto. Here she
108
ISABELLA AT GUBBIO 109
arrived on Wednesday in Holy Week, and con-
fessed and communicated at the altar of the Santa
Casa on Maundy Thursday. In a letter to her
husband from Ravenna she informed him that she
intended to spend Easter at Gubbio, and then
devote one day to Assisi, and another to Perugia,
" both in order to see that noble city, and because,
if I am to hear mass and dine at Assisi, there
would not be time to return to Gubbio the same
day. From Assisi to Perugia, I hear, it is only
ten miles, through a most beautiful valley, and
twelve more from Perugia to Gubbio." ^
But when the Marchesa reached Gubbio she
found the Duke and Duchess of Urbino awaiting
her, and was induced to spend ten days with them
at Gubbio, and another fortnight at Urbino. From
Gubbio she visited Assisi, where she saw Giotto's
frescoes and paid her vows at the tomb of St. Francis,
and Camerino, where her cousins, the Varani, gave
her a warm welcome, and would gladly have de-
tained her longer. But she was eager to return to
Gubbio, and was as much struck with the beauty
of the spot as the splendour of the ducal palace,
which had been the favourite abode of the last
Duchess, Battista Sforza, where her son Guidobaldo
was born, and where she herself died. " This
palace," she wrote on the 30th of March to her
husband, " is magnificently furnished, besides being
a noble building, and is so finely situated that I
do not think I have ever seen a place which pleased
me better. It stands on a height overlooking the
town and plaui, and has a delightful garden, with
a fountain in the centre." To-day the fair gardens
1 Luzio e Renier, Montova e Urbino, pp. 73, &c.
110 PALACE OF URBINO
are desolate, and the sumptuous fittings of the palace
are gone, but a considerable portion of Duke
Federico's building still remains. We can look
down from the beautiful loggia on the view which
Isabella admired, and breathe the health-giving
breezes which Elisabetta praised in her letters.
But the famous palace of Urbino inspired the
young Marchesa with still greater enthusiasm.
" This palace," she writes to her husband, " is far
finer than I ever expected. Besides the natural
beauty of the place, it is very richly furnished with
tapestries, hangings, and silver plate ; and I must
tell you that in aU the different rooms which I
have occupied in this Duke's different homes, the
hangings have never been moved from one place to
another, and from the first moment when I arrived
at Gubbio until now, I have been entertained more
and more sumptuously every day : indeed I could
not have been more highly honoured if I had been
a bride ! I have repeatedly begged my hosts to
reduce these expenses and treat me in a more
familiar way, but they wiU not listen to this. This
is, no doubt, the doing of the Duke, who is the
most generous of men. He holds a fine court
now, and lives in royal splendour, and governs the
State with great wisdom and humanity, to the
satisfaction of all his subjects."
It was not till the 25th of April that Isabella
finally took leave of the Duke and Duchess, who was
inconsolable at parting from her dearly-loved friend,
and wrote the following note within the next
twenty-four hours : —
" Your departure made me feel not only that
I had lost a dear sister, but that Ufe itself had
DEATH OF GIOVANNI SANTI 111
gone from me. I know not how else to soften
my grief, except by writing every hour to you, and
telling you on paper all that my lips desire to say.
If I could express the sorrow I feel, I believe that
you would come back out of compassion for me.
And if I did not fear to vex you, I would follow
you myself. But since both these things are im-
possible, from the respect which I owe Your High-
ness, aU I can do is to beg you earnestly to
remember me sometimes, and to know that I bear
you always in my heart."
The tender-hearted Duchess experienced a fresh
sorrow that summer in the death of her favourite
painter, Giovanni Santi. He had never recovered
from the fever which he caught at Mantua in the
previous autumn, and died on the 1st of August.
" About twenty days ago," wrote Elisabetta to her
sister-in-law on the 19th, "our painter, Giovanni
dei Sancti, passed out of this life, being in full
possession of his senses, and in the most excellent
disposition of mind. May God pardon his soul ! "
On hearing of Santi's death, the Marquis Francesco
wrote at once to ask his sister to send him the
portraits on tondi which he began at Mantua, and, on
the 13th of October, Elisabetta replied : " In answer
to your letter, I must tell you that Giovanni dei
Sancti was unable, owing to his illness at Mantua,
to finish the portrait of Monsignore (Sigismondo
Gonzaga) ; and after his return here, his illness in-
creased so rapidly that he could not go on with
mine, but if Your Excellency will send me a
round of the same size as the others, I wiU have
my portrait painted by a good artist here, and
send it you as soon as possible. I am well, and
112 THE MARQUIS^ AND HIS DAUGHTER
have good news of my illustrious consort, from
whom I hear constantly." And in a postscript she
adds : "I have made Giovanni's assistant search
everywhere, but he says that he can find nothing."^
Meanwhile Isabella travelled northward through
Romagna to Bologna, where she was hospitably
entertained by Annibale Bentivoglio and her sister
Lucrezia ; and after paying a short visit to her
father and brother at Ferrara, reached Mantua
towards the middle of May. During her absence
from home she received daily accounts of her
httle daughter's well-being from Violante de' Preti,
and the Marquis himself gave her constant news
of the child, to whom he was tenderly attached.
" Yesterday we went into our little daughter's
room," he writes in one letter to Urbino, " and
were glad to see her so well and hvely. We had
her dressed before us, as you desired, in her white
damask robe, which suits her charmingly, and of
which she was very proud. This morning we have
been to see her again, but finding her asleep, would
not wake her." ^ Neither did Francesco fail to give
his wife private information of the important political
events which had been happening at Milan <and
Mantua in the last few weeks. In a long letter
to Bologna, intended for her eyes alone, he told
her that Monseigneur de Migni, as he called
D'Aubigny, and three other French ambassadors
had arrived at Mantua on the 22nd of April, with
eighty-five horsemen, to ask a free passage through
his dominion for the Most Christian King's troops
on the way to Naples. More than this, they had
1 Campori, Notisie di Giovanni Santi, Modena, 1870.
2 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, pp. 75-77.
CHARLES VIII. IN ITALY 113
secretly invited him to enter Charles the Eighth's
service, offering him the title of Captain-General
and Grand Chamberlain. These proposals, how-
ever, Francesco felt compelled to refuse, since he
was already pledged to the Signory of Venice. In
the same letter he informed Isabella that he had
sent an envoy to visit the Grand Turk's ambassador
at Venice, and had heard from him that the Sultan
would gladly give him the relic of the Holy Shirt,
worn by Our Lord Christ, as well as forty good
horses, for which he was about to send to Con-
stantinople.^
In September, the French king entered Italy,
and was met at Asti by Lodovico Sforza and Duke
Ercole of Ferrara, and sumptuously entertained at
Vigevano by Duchess Beatrice. Isabella herself,
whose sympathies, like those of all her family, were
strongly on the side of France, went to Parma at
her brother-in-law's request to see the first French
cavalry pass through the town, and afterwards wrote
to her brother Ferrante, congratulating him on his
triumphal entry into Florence with the king, and
expressing her regret that she had not witnessed
this splendid sight. The presence of her sister-in-
law, Chiara Gonzaga, who came to Mantua in
December, while her husband, Gilbert, Duke of
Montpensier, was leading the French armies against
Naples, helped to enhst Isabella's sympathies on
the same side. But before long her feelings, in
common with those of all true Itahans, underwent
a complete revulsion.
The stirring events which succeeded each other
that autumn at Milan and Pavia — the death of the
1 Luzio e Renier in Arch. St. Lomb., xvii. p. 391.
VOL. I. H
114 ISABELLA AT MILAN
unhappy Duke Giangaleazzo, and the election and
proclamation of Lodovico in his stead — were fuUy
reported to Isabella by the Mantuan agent, Donate
de' Preti. There had of late been some coolness
between Francesco Gonzaga and Lodovico, who,
not altogether without reason, suspected his brother-
in-law of being in secret correspondence with his
enemy. King Alfonso of Naples. But cordial
congratulations were addressed by the Marquis to
the new Duke and Duchess, and in January 1495,
he allowed his wife to accept her sister's pressing
invitation to visit Milan. Here Isabella was
present at the birth of Beatrice's second son,
Francesco Sforza, on the 4th of February, and held
the child at the baptismal font. A succession of
splendid fetes were given in her honour by Niccolo
da Correggio and other Milanese courtiers, and her
letters to Francesco and Giovanni Gonzaga dwell
with enthusiasm on the magnificent banquets and
pageants, and the wonders of painting and archi-
tecture that were displayed before her eyes in the
CasteUo and city of Milan. On the other hand,
her secretary, Capilupi, told his master how the
Marchesa herself had won golden opinions on all
sides. " I wish," he writes on the 28th of January,
" that Your Excellency could have been in a corner
of the room when my lady received the Venetian
Ambassador, which she did with so much grace and
gallantry, and with such alacrity in responding to
his salutation, that he confessed himself her willing
slave. In the same way she charms all who come to
visit her, but above all, the Lord Duke, who caUs
her his dear daughter, and always makes her dine at
his table. In short, she does the greatest honour
CONQUEST OF NAPL£7S^t ^^g
both to Your Excellency and herself." And Isabella
herself wrote to her sister-in-law, Chiara Gonzaga,
that she was enjoying herseK immensely, and was
more honoured and feted by every one than she
deserved. At Lodovico's urgent entreaty, her
husband allowed her to spend the carnival at Milan,
although, as he wrote, "all Mantua complains of
your prolonged absence." ^
But the news of the conquest of Naples by the
French threw a gloom over these gay f§tes. Car-
nival amusements lost their brilliancy for Isabella
when she thought of the desolation at Naples, and
heard how her cousin, the young King Ferrante, and
her mother's kinsfolk were driven into exile ; and
she was heartily glad when the time came to set
out on her journey home. Lodovico loaded her
with parting gifts, and two fat oxen, together with
several lengths of gold brocade, exquisitely em-
broidered with doves, were among the presents
which the Marchesa took back to Mantua. Beatrice
was strangely moved at parting from her sister,
but neither of the two dreamt they would never
meet again, and Isabella little knew the altered
circumstances under which she was to see the
Moro's splendid home when she next came to
Milan.
On the 14th of March, she reached Mantua, and
before a month was over the new League was pro-
claimed between the Pope, the King of the Romans,
the King and Queen of Spain, Henry VII. of
England, the Signory of Venice, and the Duke of
Milan. Francesco Gonzaga was appointed captain
of the armies of the League, and, with twenty-five
1 Luzio e Renier in Arch. St. Lomb., xvii. 620.
116 b.^iS'MO^^DO'S CARDINAL ATE
thousand men under his command, prepared to cut
off the retreat of the French king, who, on hearing
of the coaUtion against him, left Naples hastily and
marched northwards. On the Feast of St. George,
Isabella paid a visit to her father at Ferrara, and
while she was there, received an urgent summons
from her lord to lend him some of her finest jewels,
with which to adorn his person at the fetes about to
be held at Milan, to celebrate the arrival of the
Imperial Ambassador and the investiture of Lodo-
vico Sforza with the ducal crown. Already, a year
before, when the Marchesa was at Urbino, she had,
at Francesco's desire, pledged many of her jewels in
order to raise a sum of money with which to obtain
his brother Sigismondo's advancement to the dignity
of Cardinal. " One of the greatest wishes that I
have in the world," she wrote, " is to see Monsignore
a Cardinal, so I am much pleased to hear that this
affair is about to be arranged. I send Alberto da
Bologna with the keys of my jewel boxes, that he
may give you whatever you wish, since I would not
only give my treasure, but my blood, for your
honour and that of your house." Now, hke a good
wife, she sent her most precious ornaments — her big
diamonds and large rubies, and her coUar of a
hundred links — all but her golden girdle, which had
been lately seen on her person at Milan, and which
she had now lent one of her father's courtiers to
wear at a masque. AU her other jewels, as she
gently reminded the Marquis, were in pawn at
Venice.^
On her return to Mantua she took up the
reins of government in her lord's absence, and ad-
^ Luzio, Lusso d' Isabella, in N. Antologia, I896.
ISABELLA GOVERNS MANTUA 117
ministered affairs with a prudence and sagacity
which excited the wonder of grey-headed councillors.
On the vigil of the Ascension, while a procession
was passing the house of Daniele Norsa, a Jewish
banker who had lately settled in the Via San
Simone, the attention of the crowd was attracted
by a group of images, inscribed with profane verses,
which some evU-disposed person had placed on a wall
formerly decorated with a fresco of the Madonna.
The cry of blasphemy was raised, stones were thrown
by the mob, and the house was only saved from
destruction by the prompt interference of a city
magistrate. The poor Jew, who had previously
obtained the Bishop's leave to remove the painting of
the Madonna and had paid all the fees required, now
wrote to implore the protection of the Marquis, and
Francesco sent peremptory orders that he was not
to be molested. But this small disturbance was so
grossly exaggerated that Isabella felt it necessary to
write to her lord on the subject, and assure him that
no serious tumult had taken place in his absence.
" The inventors of these mahcious tales," she wrote
on the 30th of June, "who have not scrupled to
disturb your peace of mind when you are occupied
with the defence of Italy, showed httle regard for
my honour, or for those of my councillors. Let
Your Highness, I beg of you, keep a tranquil mind,
and attend wholly to miUtary aflFairs, for I intend to
govern the State, with the help of these magnificent
gentlemen and officials, in such a manner that you
will suffei- no wrong, and all that is possible will be
done for the good of your subjects. And if any one
should write or tell you of disorders of which you
have not heard from me, you may be certain that it
118 BATTLE OF FORNOVO
is a lie, because, since I not only give audience to
officials, but aUow aU your subjects to speak to me
whenever they choose, no disturbance can arise
"without my knowledge." Three days afterwards
the news of the first skirmish between the two
armies reached Mantua, and Isabella hastened to
congratulate her husband on his success : —
" Most illustrious Lord, — I did not write before
to-day, because I had nothing to say, but now that
I hear of your success against the enemy, I will not
delay one moment to congratulate Your Highness on
this good news, which has given me the greatest
pleasure, and I hope in God that you will gain
further victories. I thank you more than I can say
for your letter, and I beg of you to take care of
yourself, because I am always very anxious when I
remember you are in the camp, even although this
is where you have always wished to be. I com-
mend myself to Your Highness a thousand, thousand
times. — From her who loves and longs to see Your
Highness, Isabella, with her own hand." ^ Mantua,
July 2.
With this letter Isabella sent her husband a little
gold cross and Agnus Dei containing a fragment of
the wood of the Cross, begging him to wear it round
his neck in order that the virtue of this relic and his
own devotions to the Virgin might keep him safe in
the hour of danger. " All the clergy in Mantua,"
she adds, " are praying for Your Excellency, moved
thereto by my anxious affection." On the 5th of July,
the eve of the battle, the Marquis sent a short note
thanking his dearest wife for her letter and the httle
cross, which he will cherish with singular devotion,
1 Luzio in Archivio Storico Italiano, 1890.
FRANCESCO'S ACCOUNT 119
but saying that he is so busy he has time neither to
eat nor sleep.
On the 7th, he wrote again from the victorious
camp of the League in the valley of the Taro, telling
his wife of the battle which had been fought the day
before, and of the heavy loss he had sustained in the
death of his uncle Rodolfo, and his cousin Giovanni
Maria, whom he loved as his own self.^
" Yesterday's battle, as you will have heard from
the herald, was very fiercely contested, and we lost
many of our men, amongst others, Signor Rodolfo
and Messer Giovanni Maria; but certainly many
more of the enemy were slain. And what we our-
selves did is known to aU, so that I need not speak
of it here, and will only tell you that we found
ourselves in a position of such peril that only God
could dehver us. The chief cause of the disorder
was the disobedience of the Stradiots, who gave
themselves up to plunder, and in the hour of danger
not one of them appeared. By the grace of God we
and this army have been saved, but many fled with-
out being pursued by any one, and most of the foot-
soldiers, so that few of these remain. These things
have caused me the greatest sorrow which I have
ever known, and if by iU chance our enemies had
turned upon us, we must have been utterly destroyed.
Some French nobles were made prisoners by our
company, amongst others the Comte de Pigliano
and Monsieur le Batard de Bourbon. The enemies
departed this morning, and are gone over the hiU
towards Borgo San Domino and Piacenza. We will
watch their course and see what we have to do. If
others had fought as we did, the victory would have
^ Luzio, oj). cii.
120 GALLANTRY OF FRANCESCO
been complete, and not a single Frenchman would
have escaped. Farewell."
A sense of bitter disappointment breathes in every
line of this letter which the Marquis addressed to his
wife. In spite of their heavy losses the French army
had succeeded in crossing the Taro that night, and
early the next morning continued their retreat across
the Lombard plains. But, as the royal camp and
baggage were abandoned, the advantage remained
with the allies, and, before long, Francesco persuaded
himself that he had won a glorious victory. Of his
personal prowess on this occasion there could be no
doubt. After three horses had been killed under him,
he fought on foot in the thick of the mllde till his
sword broke in his hands. " Since the days of
Hector of Troy," wrote the Marchesa's faithful
seneschal, Alessandro da Baesso, who himself risked
his life to save his master, " no one ever fought
as he did. I believe he killed ten men with his
own hand. And I think you must have said some
psalm for him, for indeed it is a miracle that
he is alive and unhurt." The French king nar-
rowly escaped being made prisoner, and was only
rescued by his chamberlain, the Bastard of Bourbon,
who rushed to his help. This prince, a son of Jean,
Due de Bourbon, was himself taken prisoner, and
sent to Mantua, where Isabella gave him lodgings
in the CasteUo, and treated him with the greatest
courtesy until he was exchanged two months later.
" Madama lets the French Count want for nothing,"
wrote Capilupi to the Marquis, and when he was
released, he told the Marchesa that he could not
sufficiently thank her for aU the kindness which he
had received. This very kindness, Marino Sanuto
REJOICINGS AT VENICE 121
tells us, was afterwards reckoned by the jealous
Signory of Venice as a sign of Francesco's dangerous
leanings towards France.^
Among the spoils found in the king's tent were
his own sword and helmet, a silver casket containing
the seals of state, and a precious reliquary with the
wood of the true Cross and a limb of St. Denis, on
which he set especial store. Many of these were
courteously returned to Charles by the Marquis, but
he sent one magnificent set of hangings to Mantua,
together with a book containing the portraits of
Italian beauties which had been specially executed
for the king, and the shattered sword with which he
himself had fought on the battle-field. Isabella re-
ceived these trophies joyfully, and gave her husband's
sword to Monsignore Sigismondo, who told his brother
that it was as sacred in his eyes as the spear of
Longinus, since the blood with which it was stained
had been shed for the deliverance of Italy.^
Great were the rejoicings at Venice, where Fran-
cesco was compared to Hannibal and Scipio, and the
Signory not only gave him the high-sounding title of
Captain-general of the armies of the Republic, but
increased his yearly salary by 2000 ducats and be-
stowed a pension of another 1000 ducats on his wife.
The money was very acceptable to Isabella, whose
funds were at a low ebb, and on the 29th of July she
wrote to Zorzo Brognolo, begging him to pay her
debts to the jeweller Pagano and spend the rest in
buying four pieces of the finest tab\ which he could
find in Venice. This precious Oriental fabric, which
the Itahan ladies of the Renaissance valued so highly,
1 Spedisione di Carlo, viii. p. 482.
2 Luzio in Emporium, vol. x. 366.
122 TABI SILK
was a species of watered silk, manufactured in a
quarter of Damascus, which, Mr. Guy le Strange tells
us, originally took its name from a Governor of Mecca
called Attabiyeh. The word in its different forms of
attab\ and tah\ passed into the Enghsh, French, and
Spanish languages. Tahy silks are often mentioned
in Enghsh records of the sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries. Queen Elizabeth appeared on state
occasions in a dress of silver and white taby, Pepys
wore a false taby waistcoat, and Fanny Burney
affected a gown of lilac taby. Probably few of us
are aware that the word tabby cat is derived from the
name of a man who was a companion of Mahommed,
and Governor of Mecca in the seventh century.^
But while poets and sonnet- writers were extoUing
Francesco as the deliverer of Italy, Isabella herself
could not conceal her anxiety for her husband's
safety, and she wrote to him in the camp before
Novara, where he was besieging the Duke of Orleans,
begging him to be less reckless of his hfe. " It does
not please me that you should always run such
terrible risks, and I pray and entreat you to be very
careful and not to expose yourself to these dangers,
as I am sure you discharge your office best and most
efficiently by giving orders to others rather than by
fighting yourself." In the same letter she enclosed
the following little note, supposed to be written by
her two-year-old daughter Leonora to the Marquis,
and signed with the words, Filia obsequentiss : adhuc
lactans: "To my dearest and victorious father.
Most illustrious and excellent Prince, in my cradle
where I am now lying, and when I am sucking in
the arms of my most illustrious and sweetest mother,
1 "Baghdad during the Abassieh Caliphate," p. 138,
FRANCESCO AND CHARLES VIII. 123
or wherever I may be, I hear continually songs and
praises of the great deeds and splendid victory of
Your Highness, in defeating and driving out the
French, and deUvering all Italy from their barbarous
hands. I also hear of the great glory and honours
which are justly paid you by all the powers of
Italy." 1
Francesco himself had Uttle time to spare, and in a
short letter of the 28th of August he tells his wife
that he is continually on horseback day and night,
and wonders that his strength holds out, but asks
her to send him some playing-cards, that he may
occasionally distract his thoughts with a game of
scartivx). Besides the task of directing mUitary
operations, he had great difficulty in keeping peace
between the Itahans and Germans, who were con-
tinually quarrelling, and in a sudden brawl which
he describes to Isabella, as many as one hundred and
twenty men were slain.
When at length Novara surrendered and a treaty
of peace was concluded between the Duke of Milan
and the French king, Francesco Gonzaga paid a visit
to Charles VIII. at Vercelh, and came away much
pleased with the courtesy shown him and the splendid
horses with which the king presented him. The
Mantuan singers who were sent to serenade His
Majesty told the Marchesa how eagerly the king
had questioned them about her appearance and the
gems she wore, and how anxious he was to make the
acquaintance of this brilliant and fascinating lady of
whom he had heard so much. This exchange of
courtesies between the French monarch and the
Marquis did not altogether please the Venetian
1 Luzio in ^rcA. St. It, 1890.
124 MANTEGNA PAINTS
Signory, who were indignant with the Duke of Milan
for concluding a separate peace with France, and who
already looked with suspicion on his brother-in-law.
But once the French army had crossed the Alps
they were not sorry to disband their army, and on the
1st of November the Marquis made his triumphal
entry into Mantua, where he was joyfully welcomed
by his wife and both his sisters, Chiara of Mont-
pensier and Elisabetta of Urbino, who came to spend
Christmas with her family. Great were the rejoicings
in honour of the victor's return. Sperandio, that
aged artist who, after a long residence at the court of
the Estes, had lately returned to spend his last days
in his native city, designed a fine medal representing
Francesco on horseback at Fornovo, with the proud
inscription : Oh. Restitutam Italice Libertatevi} But
a grander and more imposing memorial of Francesco
Gonzaga's victory had already been planned by his
wife and brother. In the thick of the melee at
Fornovo, the Marquis had implored the Blessed
Virgin's help, and, after the battle, he resolved to com-
memorate his deliverance by some noble monument.
Then he remembered the poor Jew, Daniele Norsa,
whose house in the Via San Simone had been nearly
wrecked by the fanaticism of the mob at Ascension-
tide, and in a letter addressed to his brother Sigis-
mondo on the last day of July, he proposed that the
Jew should be made to restore the figure of Our
Lady which he had removed from the wall, in a
finer and more splendid form, as an act of reparation
to the glorious Mother. The idea was quickly taken
up by the Protonotary, who suggested that an altar-
piece of the Madonna should be painted by Andrea
1 Al"mand, Les Medailleurs italiens.
THE MADONNA BELLA VITTORIA 125
Mantegna, and that the Marquis should be repre-
sented kneeUng in armour, with his brothers and his
illustrious lady at the Virgin's feet. The Marquis
highly approved of this proposal, and fixed the price
of Mantegna's painting at 110 ducats, which the Jew
was required to pay down, within three days. Isa-
bella's own portrait, however, was not eventually in-
troduced in the picture. Perhaps she had no wish to
sit to Mantegna again, and preferred that her patron,
St. EUzabeth, should appear in her stead. But if,
as seems most probable, in the venerable saint who
kneels opposite the figure of the Marquis, we see the
Beata Osanna, that revered nun whose prayers were
offered day and night for the success of Francesco's
arms, the suggestion may well have come from the Mar-
chesa.^ In the same way, the figures of the heavenly
warriors St. George and St. Michael, and of the patron
saints of Mantua, Andrew and Longinus, were
substituted for the Gonzaga brothers. A certain
Era Girolamo Redini, a friar of the Eremitani order
who was fond of meddling in political affairs, now
proposed that the Jew's house should be pulled down,
and that a church, dedicated to the Madonna della
Vittoria, should be erected in its place. This scheme
was finally adopted. The sum of 110 ducats was
paid by the Jew on the 25th of August, and part of
the money was handed over by the Protonotary to
Mantegna, who was promised the remainder when
the work was partly executed.^
The architect Bernardo Ghisolfo, whose name
appears frequently in the Gonzaga archives, set to
work at once, and by the following June the new
1 Cf. "Life of Mantegna/' by Miss Cruttwell, p. 9S.
2 Luzio in Emporium, vol. x. 360.
126 PROCESSION IN HONOUR
chapel was ready to receive Messer Andrea's altar-
piece. The painter on this part worked more rapidly
than usual, taking pleasure in his subject and incited
by the prospect of the large reward that was await-
ing him, and on the anniversary of the battle of
the Taro, the great Madonna was borne in triumph
from Mantegna's house near San Sebastiano to the
new shrine on the site of the Jew's house, at the
other end of the town. Francesco himself was
absent in the kingdom of Naples at the time, but
the Marchesa and Sigismondo resolved to make the
ceremony as imposing as possible, and their letters
to the Marquis show that their efforts were attended
with complete success. On the 10th of July,
Isabella wrote : " The figure of Our Lady, which
Andrea Mantegna has painted, was carried from
his house in procession last Wednesday, being the
6th of this month, to the new chapel of S. Maria
della Vittoria, in commemoration of last year's
battle and of your gallant deeds, and greater crowds
assembled than I have ever seen at any procession
in this town. My confessor, Fra Pietro, made
a fine oration at high mass, and spoke in a
manner appropriate to the occasion, begging the
glorious Virgin Mary to keep Your Excellency safe
and bring you home victorious. Owing to my
present condition, I could not walk on foot in the
procession, but I went to the Borgo to see it pass,
and returned to the Castello by the new chapel,
which is well adorned, and the road was thronged
with people." ^
Sigismondo adds a few particulars of interest.
1 Archivio Gonzaga, quoted by Portioli, La Ckiesa e la Madonna
della Vittoria in Mantova, p. 21.
OF THE MADONNA 127
He describes the youths dressed up as angels and
apostles who sang lauds on the tribunal erected for
the altar-piece outside Mantegna's house, where the
altar-piece was first placed, and dilates on the love
and enthusiasm which the preacher's references to the
Marquis evoked, as well as on the number of wax
hghts, torches and other votive offerings which had
been already brought to the new shrine. Another
correspondent, the chancellor Antimaco, describes the
painting as a most excellent work, and says that it was
truly amazing to see the eagerness of the crowds
which pressed round to see this noble picture, and
that, next to the Madonna's image, the portrait of
their absent lord excited the greatest interest.^
The little shrine of Our Lady of Victory is
standing still in a deserted byway of Mantua, but
Messer Andrea's Madonna, as we all know, was
carried off a hundred years ago, by the French
conquerors, and hangs to-day in the Louvre among
the proudest possessions of the nation whose supposed
defeat it was intended to commemorate.
1 Braghirolli, Giom. di Erud. Art., i, 206.
CHAPTKR VIII
1496—1497
Campaign of Naples — Ferrante recovers his kingdom — Francesco
Gonzaga commands the Venetian army — Isabella governs
Mantua — Her correspondence and friendship with Lorenzo
da Pavia — Birth of her second daughter — Illness of the
Marquis — His return to Mantua^ and visit to Venice — Death
of Ferrante of Naples^ of Gilbert de Montpensier, and Beatrice
d'Este — Francesco Gonzaga deprived of the office of captain-
general of the Venetian armies — Death of Anna Sforza.
Early in January, the Marquis of Mantua left home
again to take the command of a new Venetian army
which the Signory sent to assist Ferrante, the young
king of Naples, in recovering his dominions. After
the retreat of Charles VIII. this gallant prince had
crossed over from Ischia, and. entered Naples on the
day after the battle of Fornovo. The people wel-
comed him with shouts of joy and the nobles flocked
to his banner, and soon Montpensier, who had been
left at the head of the French troops, was compelled
to retire into the mountains of Calabria. There he
carried on a war of petty skirmishes and depredations
against the Venetian forces under the command of
his brother-in-law, Francesco Gonzaga. While their
husbands were fighting on opposite sides, Chiara
Gonzaga remained at Mantua with her sister-in-law,
to whom she was fondly attached, and whose com-
pany consoled Isabella in some measure for the
departure of EUsabetta, who returned to Urbino in
LORENZO DA PAVIA 129
February. It was a dull year for the Marehesa, and,
with the exception of a short visit to Ferrara in
January, she was too much occupied with pubhc
affairs to leave home. But, as usual, she made good
use of her time. She returned to her classical
studies, appUed herself to master the rules of Latin
grammar, and consulted the great Ferrara humanist,
Ercole Strozzi, as to the choice of a new tutor.
Much of her leisure time was devoted to music.
She took lessons on the lute from a new master,
Angelo Testagrossa, a Milanese youth who sang like
a seraph, and played the lyre and clavichord. On
her last visit to Milan she had seen and greatly
admired an instrument which Lorenzo Gusnasco of
Pavia, the famous master of organs, had made for
her sister Beatrice. Now she was seized with an
ardent desire to possess a similar one, and on the
12th of March 1496, she addressed the following
letter to Lorenzo da Pavia, whom she had often
met at the court of Milan, but who had lately
moved to Venice for the greater convenience of his
trade : —
" M. Lorenzo da Pavia, most excellent master, —
We remember that you made a most beautiful
and perfect clavichord for that illustrious Madonna,
the Duchess of Milan, our sister, when we were last
at Pavia, and since we ourselves now wish to have an
instrument of the same kind, which cannot be sur-
passed, we are sure that there is no one in all Italy
who can satisfy our wish better than you can. We
therefore pray you to make us a clavichord of such
beauty and excellence as shall be worthy of your
high reputation and of the trust that we repose in
you. The only difference that we wish to see in this
VOL. I. I
130 ISABELLA'S ORDEKb
instrument is that it should be easier to play, because
our hand is so light that we cannot play well if we
have to press heavily on the notes. But you, I have
no doubt, will understand our wishes and require-
ments. For the rest, make the instrument exactly as
you choose. And the more quickly you can serve us
the better shall we be pleased, and we wiU take care
that you shall be well rewarded, and place ourselves
at your service." ^
Lorenzo hastened to reply that he would gladly
serve the Marchesa, but that he feared some time
must elapse before he was able to execute her
commands, since he had unfortunately promised to
make *a viol for the Duchess of Milan and a clavi-
chord for one of her courtiers, Messer Antonio
Visconti. Isabella, however, was not to be so easily
put off, and on the 19th, she wrote to the Milanese
nobleman, begging him to allow Lorenzo to make
her instrument first.
" Most honoured friend, and dear to us as a
brother, — We have desired M. Lorenzo da Pavia, in
Venice, to make us a clavichord, but hear from him
that he cannot undertake this until he has finished
a viol for our honoured sister, the Duchess of Milan,
and a clavichord for Your Magnificence. But as
we are very anxious to have our new instrument,
we beg you to be as good as to yield us the next
place after the Duchess, which would give us the
greatest pleasure, and if you are willing, wiU
you kindly write to Messer Lorenzo, giving him
leave to make our clavichord first ? And we shall
be ever ready to consult the pleasure of Your Mag-
nificence."
1 Lorenzo Gusnasco, Dott. Carlo dell'Acqua, p. 20.
A PERFECT INSTRUMENT 131
On the same day she wrote to Zorzo Brognolo as
follows : —
" You may tell M. Lorenzo da Pavia that we
have written to M. Antonio Viseonti in terms that
leave us no doubt but that he will allow us to have
our clavichord made first, and that he can set to
work at once, and if he can finish it in less than the
three months which he named, we shall be the better
pleased. But if this is impossible, we are content
to wait, as long as he makes a most excellent
instrument." ^
But Lorenzo was too fine an artist to allow
himself to be hurried, and he sent back word by
Zorzo, a month later, that he had begun the instru-
ment, but could not possibly finish it before three
months. Once more Isabella retiirned to the charge,
and at the end of May desired Brognolo to go and
see how Lorenzo was getting on, and find out if her
instrument seemed to be a fine one, and how soon it
would be ready. In reply, Zorzo wrote that the clavi-
chord would be most beautiful, and would be finished
by August. But, as usual, the finishing touches took
longer than the master had expected, and it was not
tUl Christmas Day that Messer Lorenzo arrived at
Mantua, bringing with him the Marchesa's clavichord,
which, she wrote to Zorzo, was so perfect and beauti-
ful a thing, it could not please her better ! Lorenzo
was not allowed to return to Venice without promis-
ing to undertake another commission for the insatiable
Marchesa. This was a lute, which he proposed to
make of inlaid ebony and ivory, " because," he writes,
" these two materials go well together and are beau-
tiful companions." On the 3rd of February 1497, he
1 Luzio in Arch. St. Lomb , xvii. 637.
132 LORENZO'S FRIENDS
wrote that the lute would soon be finished, and
entered readily into Isabella's suggestion that a star
should be let into the woodwork of the instrument,
since this was a favourite device of the Marchesa,
and appears on the reverse of her medal. A few
months later the Marchesa wrote to ask about a
certain lute which the singer Serafino had seen in
Lorenzo's shop at Venice, and begged that the in-
strument which he was making should be strung in
such a manner as to suit her voice.
Lorenzo had, it appears, met with unexpected
difficulties in completing his task, but, as before, he
entered warmly into the Marchesa's idea, and took
infinite pains to meet her wishes. " I cannot," he
wrote, " find any ebony that is black enough and fine
enough to suit me, and am much disappointed,
because I hoped to make this lute the most beautiful
thing in Italy and the best, both from my great desire
to give you pleasure, and from my natural wish to
make an instrument of the highest excellence."
Accordingly he sent to Munich for the strings of
the lute, as he had heard of a German master who
supplied the best quality, and promised to pay
especial attention to the shape of the instrument,
" because beauty of form is everything," a sentiment
which must have found an echo in Isabella's heart,
Perche nella forma sta el tuto}
This, then, was the beginning of Isabella's corre-
spondence with this remarkable man, who was closely
connected with the most cultured members of the
Milanese court, and belonged to a small circle of
highly gifted men, which included the painter,
Leonardo da Vinci ; the sculptor, Cristoforo Romano ;
1 Aldo Manuzio, Lettres et documents ; A. Baschet.
CORRESPONDENCE WITH ISABELLA 133
the writer and collector, Sabba da Castiglione; and
the great printer, Aldo Manuzio. Lorenzo da Pavia
was intimate with all these distinguished men. He
shared their love of music and of painting, their enthu-
siasm for the antique, their passion for all that was
beautiful in art and letters. His fine taste and
critical eye commended him in an especial manner to
Isabella d'Este, who found in him a kindred spirit,
not easily satisfied either with his own work or with
that of others, and aiming at nothing short of
perfection. During the next twenty years she
corresponded with him constantly, and employed
him not only to manufacture those wonderful organs,
lutes, and viols, of ebony and ivory, which were as
perfect in shape as in sound, but to buy pictures and
antiques, amber rosaries and ivory crucifixes, enamels,
cameos and Murano glass, and Eastern stuffs, crystal
mirrors and inlaid cabinets, and all the rare and
lovely things with which she adorned her studio.
And in all the delicate and difficult negotiations
which he conducted on her behalf with Venetian
merchants and artists, with the painter, Giovanni
Bellini, or the printer, Aldo, she found Lorenzo's
knowledge and advice, his tact and patience, of the
greatest value.
Books and music, as usual, were the chief occu-
pations which filled Isabella's spare time. But she
had more Mvolous amusements as well. Her letters
abound with allusions to the tricks and jests of the
favourite dwarfs and clowns with whom she loved
to be surrounded. A whole suite of apartments,
with low rooms and passages suited to their size, was
built for the court dwarfs at Mantua during her life-
time, and may still be seen in a wing of the Castello.
134 ISABELLA'S PET DWARFS
In March 1496, just when Isabella was corresponding
with Lorenzo da Pavia about the clavichord, she
wrote to beg her father to allow the French clown,
Galasso, and FriteUo, the wonderful dwarf who
danced and sang, and turned somersaults in the air,
to the delight of all the Este family, to come and
amuse her, saying that she was as cold as ice and
as dull as ditch water in her husband's absence!
Her only pleasure, she declared in another letter, was
to make Mattello dictate letters to the Marquis.
One day she nearly died of laughing at the sight
of Mattello imitating a tipsy man ; another time he
appeared in a friar's habit, and was announced as
the venerable Padre Bernardino Mattello.^ When
Alfonso d'Este was ill and sad, in 1498, after his
wife's death, the Marchesa sent Mattello to amuse
him, and her brother wrote in return that he could
not express the delight which the buffoon had
afforded him, and that he esteemed his presence a
greater boon than the gift of a fine castle. Great
was Isabella's dismay when soon after his return to
Mantua, this pet dwarf fell ill and died, to the grief
of the whole court. She visited him repeatedly
during his last illness, and told her husband the jokes
which the poor fool made on his death-bed. " Most
people," wrote Francesco in reply, " can be easily
replaced, but Nature will never produce another
Mattello." // primo matto nel mondo, " the foremost
fool in the world," as Isabella called him, was interred
in S. Francesco, the favourite burial-place of the
Gonzaga princes. Tebaldeo wrote his epitaph, and
Bonsignori painted his portrait, while the bard
Pistoia composed an elegy, in which he says : "If
1 Luzio, Buffoni, &c., in Nuova Antologia, 1891.
DOGS AND CATS 135
Mattello is in Paradise, he is making all the saints
and angels laugh ; if he is in hell, Cerberus will
forget to bark."
The same wits and poets were caUed upon to write
Latin epigrams and sonnets on Isabella's pet animals,
on the Persian cat Martino or the Cagnolino Aura.
The novelist Bandello tells us how the Marchesa's
presence was heralded by the barking of her little
dogs, and on one occasion she desired Brognolo to
send to aU the convents in Venice for Syrian and
Thibet cats,^ in order that she might choose the
finest for herself. These pet animals were buried
with great solemnity in the terraced gardens of the
Castello opposite the Corte Vecchia, and cypresses
and tombstones inscribed with their names marked
their graves. All the ladies and gentlemen of Isa-
bella's household were present on these occasions,
and her favourite dogs and cats joined in the funeral
procession. And it was characteristic of the age that
every incident, from the birth of a prince or the fall
of an empire, to the death of a fool or pet dog, be-
came an occasion for producing Latin epitaphs and
sonnets and elegies in the vulgar tongue.
But more serious subjects now claimed Isabella's
attention. On the 6th of July, when Mantegna's
Madonna was borne through the streets of Mantua,
we have seen that the Marchesa's state of health did
not allow her to walk in the procession, and that she
witnessed the ceremony from Giovanni Gonzaga's
house in the Borgo. A week later she gave birth to
a second daughter. The babe was named Margherita
after Francesco's mother, but her sex was a cause of
bitter disappointment to Isabella, who looked with
1 Luzio in Giom. St. d. Lett. It, vol. xxxiii. 45.
136 BIRTH OF A DAUGHTER
envy on her sister Beatrice's two fine boys. The Mar-
quis was more philosophical in this instance, especially
when he heard that the child was much prettier than
Mttle Leonora and strongly resembled him. He told
his wife not to look so coldly on the poor babe, since
no doubt God would send them sons all in good
time, and if ever a father had reason to be satisfied
with his daughters, it was he. His affection for
Leonora never changed, and nothing pleased him
better than to hear that his little daughter asked
after her father and sent him messages. " Madonna
Leonora," wrote a secretary to him in Calabria,
" commends herself to Your Highness, and would
like to have a fine new doll in a silk frock to play
with in bed, as her old one is quite worn out." And
often, on his hunting expeditions nearer home, he
would send her a hare which his dogs had caught, and
teU her to eat it for dinner I ^ But Francesco never
saw the babe whose birth he had been the first to
welcome, and poor Mttle Margherita died before her
father's return on the 23rd of September.
The war in Calabria, as Isabella had foreseen,
proved a tedious and difficult enterprise, and by the
end of the summer both parties were heartily sick
of the struggle. On the 29th of July, Montpensier
was forced to surrender the strong city of Atella
after a long blockade and feU dangerously ill of fever.
Francesco Gonzaga, ever courteous towards his foes,
sent his doctor to the French camp with presents
of fruit and game for his brother-in-law, but the
Venetian Signory, Marino Sanuto teUs us, did not
approve of their general's action, and were dissatisfied
with his conduct on other grounds. However, they
1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, pp. 75, 87.
THE CARDINAL'S HAT 137
declined to allow him to come home on leave, and
supported his appUcation when he asked the Pope to
make his brother a Cardinal. On his way to Naples,
Francesco had spent a few days in Rome, to pay his
respects to Alexander VI., who received him with
marked favour and presented him with the golden
rose. This had encouraged him to renew his old
suit on behalf of Sigismondo, and the better to press
his claim, he wrote in August to ask his wife to
raise seven thousand ducats on the spot, and if
necessary to pledge her jewels for this purpose.
Isabella, who had already pawned the greater part
of her jewels for the same object two years before,
and had lately been seeking her father's help to
enable her to redeem them, rephed in the following
letter : —
" I am of course always ready to obey Your
Excellency's commands, but perhaps you have for-
gotten that most of my jewels are at present in pawn
at Venice, not only those which you have given me,
but those which I brought when I came as a bride to
Mantua or have bought myself since my marriage.
I say this, not because I wish to make any difference
between yours and mine, but to show you that I
have parted from everything and have only four
jewels left in the house — the large balass ruby which
you gave me when my first child was born, my
favourite big diamond, and the last ones which you
gave me. If I pledge these, I shall be left entirely
without jewels and shall be obliged to wear black,
because to appear in coloured silks and brocades
without jewels would be ridiculous. Your Excellency
wiU understand that I only say this out of regard for
your honour and mine, and for this cause I pray and
138 FRANCESCO'S ILLNESS
entreat you not to rob me of these few things, since
I would rather give you my camora embroidered
with gems than be left without jewels. On this
account I will not send away my jewels until I have
received Your Excellency's reply." ^ Mantua, August
27, 1496.
As before, however, the negotiations regarding
the Cardinal's hat proved fruitless, and Isabella was
allowed to keep her jewels. When she wrote this
letter her husband was seriously ill of fever at Fondi.
He had been carried there on a Utter, fearing to
remain at Naples on account of an old prophecy that
he should die in that city. Here he became so
dangerously ill that he sent for the Venetian senator
Paolo CapeUo and begged him in case of his death
to commend his wife and little daughter to the pro-
tection of the Signory — "a sure sign," remarks
Sanuto, "that he puts greater trust in Venice than
in his brother-in-law of Milan, or his father-in-law of
Ferrara." ^ Meanwhile Montpensier was stiU lying ill
at Pozzuoli, and an armistice had been signed between
France and Venice, so that there was nothing to
keep the Marquis in the South, and as soon as he
was fit to move, he started on the journey home.
A few days after her infant daughter's death, Isabella
set out to meet her husband, accompanied by the
Protonotary Sigismondo. Early in October, the
Duchess of Urbino came to meet her at Fano, and
on the following day Isabella joined Francesco at
Ancona, and brought him home by slow stages to
Ravenna, and thence up the Po by water to Ferrara
and afterwards to Mantua.
1 Luzio, II Lusso d' Isabella d'Este, in Nuova Antologia, 1896.
2 Diarii, i. 294.
DEATH OF KING FERRANTE 139
The Marquis's first duty was to report himself
to the Doge and Signory, and as soon as his health
was sufficiently restored, he went to Venice on the
21st of November. Here a grand reception awaited
him. At Chioggia he was welcomed by the Senate
and representatives ; at Malamocco the Signory and
foreign Ambassadors came out to meet him in state.
The great doors of St. Mark were thrown open in
his honour, and after mass he was conducted up the
Canal Grande on the bucentaur to his own house at
San Trovaso. On the following day he appeared
before the Signory, to give an account of his pro-
ceedings, and in the evening he attended the wedding
of Zuan Soranzo's daughter to Giorgio Cornaro,
brother of the Queen of Cyprus. Marino Sanuto,
who saw the Marquis on this occasion, describes him
as wearing a Spanish suit and short black beard, as
he appears in Mantegna's altar-piece, and remarks
that his face bore evident traces of his recent sickness.
But the sad news from Naples threw a gloom
over these festivities both at Venice and Mantua. On
their journey home the travellers heard that the young
King Ferrante had died after a short iUness, brought
on by the hardships and fatigue which he had under-
gone in his victorious campaign against the French.
Both Francesco and Isabella were much attached to
their brave young cousin, who had fought so gallantly
to recover his father's dominions. Solemn funeral
services were held in his house at Mantua, and
the Carmelite Vicar-General, Fra Pietro da Novellara,
preached a Latin oration in his honour. When, a
year afterwards, the dead king's sister, the widowed
Duchess Isabella of Milan, wrote to ask Francesco
Gonzaga for a portrait of her brother which she
140 OF BEATRICE D'ESTE
heard was in his possession, the Marehesa sent her
word that her lord could not part with the picture,
which was dear to him for the love which he bore
to Ferrante's memory, but would have it copied for
her by Francesco Bonsignori.
This sad event was soon followed by the death of
Gilbert de Montpensier, who breathed his last at
Pozztioli on the 11th of November, and Isabella was
called upon to console his widow, Chiara Gonzaga,
whUe at the same time she had to condole with
Antonia del Balzo, on the loss of her husband Gian-
francesco of Bozzolo. A still more tragic event
darkened the Christmas festival. This was the
sudden death of the Marchesa's own sister, Beatrice
d'Este, Duchess of Milan, and wife of Lodovico
Sforza. The poor young princess, who was only
twenty-one, gave birth to a stiU-born son on the night
of the 2nd of January in the CasteUo of Milan, and
died herself an hour afterwards. The sad news, which
Francesco had to break to his wife, came as a terrible
shock to Isabella, who had lately seen her sister in
the bloom of youth and fulness of prosperity. At
first she was overwhelmed with grief, and her hus-
band said that he had never seen his wife so utterly
broken down. " I know not," she wrote to her
father, " how I can ever find comfort." Fortunately
EUsabetta of Urbino had arrived at Mantua a week
before, and the companionship of this beloved sister-
in-law was Isabella's best consolation. When the
Duchess returned to Urbino at the end of April,
both Isabella and her husband accompanied her to
Ferrara and spent some weeks with her father and
brothers. That year the Feast of St. George was
shorn of its usual splendour. There were no races
DISMISSAL OF FRANCESCO 141
and no banquets or comedies. The people shared
m their prince's sorrow, and Duke Ercole presented
the pallium which would have been the prize of the
races to the church of S. Francesco.^
On the 24th of June, the Marquis went to Venice,
having received orders from the Signory to prepare
for war. But when he reached his house in San
Trovaso, Zovzo Brognolo met him with the unex-
pected announcement of his dismissal from the post
of captain-general. For some time past the Signory
had entertained grave suspicions of Francesco's fidelity,
and on the day before his arrival in Venice the
Council of Ten finally issued a decree by which he
was removed from office. At first the Marquis could
hardly beheve in the truth of Brognolo's announce-
ment. He rode along the Canal Grande, Marino
Sanuto teUs us, " with great arrogance," and meeting
the Procurator of the RepubUc in the church of San
Giorgio Maggiore, haughtily demanded an audience
from the Signory. " Every one," adds the chronicler,
" murmured at his audacity ; but although he was
dismissed from his post, he was suffered to remain in
the city, because he was a zentiluomo of Venice, and
had inherited the privilege of citizenship from his
ancestors. And from the age of twenty-eight he had
been captain-general, and being also related to the
King of Naples and the Dukes of Milan, Ferrara,
and Urbino, he enjoyed the best time of any lord in
Italy. He had held this office for the space of eight
years, one month, and twenty-four days, and now he
says that from being the first man in Italy he has
rmned himself, and this is no doubt true. But the
Signory wiU save his salary." ^
1 Muratori, xxiv. 340. ^ Diarii, i. 667.
142 FROM THE POST OF CAPTAIN
Meanwhile Isabella, unconscious of her husband's
disgrace, was spending Midsummer's day at Verona,
where, by Francesco's wish, she had accepted an
invitation from the Podesta to witness the jousts
in honour of San Giovanni's day. The Venetian
Signory were aware of her presence, and had sent
orders that the Marchesa was to be honourably
entertained, and was to receive 25 ducats a day for
her expenses as long as she remained in Verona.
After her prolonged period of mourning and seclusion,
the young princess appeared once more in public
with fresh brightness and charm, and rode along the
lists and greeted all her friends in the most gracious
manner. Not a word was breathed in her presence
as to the Marquis's disgrace, and it was only when
she reached Mantua and met her husband that she
heard the story from his own lips. Already the bad
news had reached Ferrara.^ Alfonso d'Este galloped
to Mantua to see his sister, and Isabella went back
with him to take counsel with her father, while the
disconsolate Marquis remained at his villa of Gon-
zaga, declaring loudly that his disgrace was due to
the Duke of Milan's intrigues and Galeazzo Sanse-
verino's jealousy. "I hear," wrote Sanuto, "that he
is very gloomy and goes clad in black, and wears an
iron ring on his collar, which he has vowed not to
lay aside until he has been on a pilgrimage to Loreto.
And there is sorrow throughout the Mantovano, and
the people, who had been happy and smiling before,
are now sad and out of heart." ^ It was then, in token
of his grief and remorse, that Francesco adopted the
device of gold faggots in a fiery crucible, with the
motto, Domine probasti me et cognovisti, which figures
1 Muratori, Diario Ferrarese, xxiv. 345. ^ Diarii, i. 697.
OF THE VENETIAN ARMY 143
in the pavement of Isabella's Grotta and in the frieze
of her camerini, and still adorns one of the vaulted
ceilings in his favourite palace of San Sebastiano.^
All through the summer the Marquis made re-
peated efforts to recover the Signory's good graces.
He offered to place his wife and child as hostages in
their hands, and even to surrender some of his for-
tresses. And when he reviewed his troops on the
Feast of the Assumption, he told them that they
were kept for the use of the Signory, and threw
them gold when they shouted Marco ! But the
Signory refused to see him or even accept a pre-
sent from him, and were persuaded that he was
secretly in league with the French king. There
seems no doubt that Francesco had lately held
secret communications with the French court, and
in November Lodovico Sforza addressed an indignant
remonstrance on the subject to Isabella, telling her
that he held proofs of her husband's dealings with the
French and the Florentines in his hands, and only
refrained from sending them to Venice out of love
and regard for her. Isabella was deeply distressed at
this breach between her husband and brother-in-law,
and did her best to effect a reconciliation between
them, but her position was a difficult one and her
path was by no means strewn with roses. To add to
her family sorrows in this year of misfortunes, her
brother Alfonso's wife, Anna Sforza, died on the
30th of November, after giving birth to a dead child,
who was buried with her in the same grave. Alfonso
was left a childless widower, and the sudden death ol
this gentle young princess was a fresh cause of grief
to Duke Ercole and his people. A fortnight later
another Este princess, the once brilliant and beautiful
1 Paolo Giovio, Imprese, p. 33.
144 FRANCESCO^ MISTRESS
Beatrice, died in a fit of apoplexy at Milan, and
Isabella addressed heart-felt condolences to her aunt's
son, Niccolo da Correggio, remarking sadly that at
least his mother had died in the natural order, and
that her life had not been cut short by a cruel and
untimely end.
Certainly Isabella had her fuU share of anxieties
at this time. For, as she and aU the world knew,
her husband was consoling himself for his reverses in
the company of a mistress named Teodora, who bore
him two daughters, and shocked public feeling by
appearing in splendid attire at a tournament held at
Brescia in honour of the Queen of Cyprus. The
Marquis himself was present on this occasion with
his brother-in-law, the young Cardinal Ippolito, while
his rival, the Moro's son-in-law, Galeazzo Sanseverino,
appeared in the lists and was not sorry to cross swords
with him.^
But Isabella held her peace like a wise woman,
and won general admiration by her patient and
dignified bearing. " You are blessed beyond most
men," wrote the Bologna humanist Floriano DoLfo
to the Marquis Francesco soon after his victory at
Fornovo, " in having a fair, wise, and noble wife, who
is altogether discreet and virtuous, and has shown
herself a true mother of concord, ever anxious to
gratify your wishes, while she prudently feigns neither
to see nor hear those actions of yours which must be
hateful and injurious to her." ^ This was plain speaking,
but the writer had been long intimately acquainted
with the Marquis and his wife, and the tribute of
praise which he paid Isabella was well deserved.
1 Marino Sanuto, Diarii, i. 697.
^ Luzio e Renier in Arch. St. Lomb., xvii. 646,
CHAPTER IX
14.98—1499
Intrigues of Francesco Gonzaga with Venice Jand Milan — Isabella
seeks to reconcile him with Lodovico Sforza — The Marquis
goes to Milan and is appointed captain-general of the League
— Visit of the Duke of Milan to Mantua — Correspondence of
Isabella with Lodovico — Conquest of Milan by the French,
and flight of the Duke — Louis XII. enters Milan — Isabella
pays court to the French — Receives the Milanese exiles — The
Moro's return and his final surrender at Novara.
It is a difficult task to unravel the tangled web of
Italian politics at the close of the fifteenth century
and to foUow the Marquis Francesco's course of
action during the two years that elapsed betweeh
his dismissal by the Signory of V^enice and the faU
of his brother-in-law, Lodovico Sforza. His tortuous
policy and frequent changes of front are fully dis-
cussed in a learned treatise by M, Louis Pelissier/
while Dr. Luzio has recently brought several fresh
documents on the subject to light. ^ But one thing
seems clear. While Francesco and his brother
Giovanni were inchned to join with Venice, Isabella
d'Este's sympathies were wholly on the side of
Lodovico, until it became plain that his cause was
irrevocably ruined. Then, hke the true "cinque-
centist" that she was — to borrow M. Pelissier's
1 L. PeUssier, Louis XII. et L. Sforza ; Documents pour I'histoire
de la domination frangaise dans le Milanais.
2 Luzio, Arch. St. Lomh., 1901.
VOL. I. '*' K
146 LODOVICO SFORZA
phrase — the Marchesa apphed all her energies to win
the French king's favour and make Louis XII. her
friend.^
During the winter and spring of 1498, her con-
fidential agent, Capilupi, was repeatedly sent to Milan
to negotiate with the Duke, and when in April a
new league was formed between him and the
Emperor Maximilian, the command of the alUed
forces was offered to Francesco, with a yearly salary
of 30,000 ducats. The Marquis went to Milan,
where he was splendidly entertained, and agreed to all
Lodovico's proposals, but he was secretly dissatisfied
because the Duke would not give him the title of
captain-general of the Milanese army, which was
borne by his son-in-law Galeazzo, and sent word by
his brother Giovanni to the Signory that he would
greatly prefer to return to his old allegiance.^
Isabella, however, strongly advised him to accept the
post, saying that the salary was the important thing,
although the refusal of the title might be vexatious.
Lodovico now announced his intention of coming to
Mantua himself, both to show the world the con-
fidence which he placed in the Marquis, and to
thank Isabella personally for her good ojffices. Great
preparations were made for his reception, and the
Marchesa borrowed plate and tapestries from Niccolo
da Correggio, consulted Capilupi as to the Duke's
favourite dishes and wines, and was greatly exercised
in mind as to whether she ought to wear black and
drape her rooms with sable hangings, since Lodovico
had never laid aside his mourning since the death of
Beatrice. And we learn, from the following letter to
1 Les Amies de Ludovic Sforsa (Revue hisiorique, 1891).
2 Marino Sanuto, Diarii, i. 1112.
VISITS MANTUA 147
Capilupi, that she gave up her own rooms in the
CasteUo for the use of her guest.
" Benedetto : We intend to lodge the Duke here,
in our rooms in the CasteUo, giving him the Camera
dipinta, with the ante-chamber, the Camerino of the
Sun" — Lodovico Gonzaga's device — "the Camera
of the Cassone, our own Camerino and dining-room.
And we mean His Excellency to occupy the Camera
of the Cassone himself, which we will drape with
black and violet hangings, as, although we hear that
he still wears mourning, we think this wiU look
rather less melancholy, and show that here at least we
have good reason for rejoicing on this occasion. But
I hope you will consult M. Antonio di Costabili " —
the Ferrarese envoy — " and Messer Visconti as to the
hangings of the other rooms, if you do not think it
weU to mention this to the Duke himself, and let me
know their opinion, as it does not seem to me con-
venient that our rooms should be bare even if His
Excellency brings his own hangings. Please also let
me know what wines the Duke usually drinks, and
what kind of clothes I had better wear, as I said
before." ^ Mantua, June 8, 1498.
The Duke however begged the Marchesa to please
herself, and expressed himself highly gratified with
her thoughtfulness, and when he heard that Isabella
had a slight attack of fever, he sent his jester Barone
on beforehand to amuse her with his merry tricks.
On the 27th of June he arrived himself, bringing
Isabella's brother. Cardinal Ippolito, and several
foreign ambassadors in his train, and accompanied
by a suite of a thousand persons. He spent three
days at Mantua, visited the principal churches and
^ Luzio e Renier in Arch. St. Lomh., xvii. Q56.
148 INTRIGUES WITH VENICE
palaces, and admired Mantegna's glorious frescoes,
and the treasures of art which Isabella had collected
in her studio. The Marquis gave a series of tourna-
ments and comedies in honour of his illustrious guest,
but the Venetians watched these proceedings jealously
and Sanuto remarked that the Marchesana was evi-
dently anxious to draw her husband to the Duke of
Milan's side, and, like her father Ercole of Ferrara, was
all against Venice.
Still Francesco wavered, and sent messages to the
Signory through his brother Giovanni, who was
known to be attached to Venice, and whose wife,
Laura Bentivoglio, paid frequent visits to the con-
vent of S. Giorgio. On the 20th of October, he
came to Venice and threw himself at the Doge's feet,
placing his services and those of his family at his
disposal. But, although the Signory was ready to
pay him the same salary as before, they would not
agree to give him the title of captain-general, and he
left Venice in disgust. The next day news came from
Milan that the Marchesa had concluded an agree-
ment with Lodovico, and that her little daughter
Leonora was to be affianced to her cousin, Maxi-
milian, the young Count of Pavia. "Every one
agreed," wrote Sanuto, " that the Marquis had treated
our Signory very scurvily, and the Pope is said to
have remarked that we are well rid of a great fool."
On this occasion Isabella certainly seems to have
urged her husband to come to terms with Lodovico,
and herself took an active part in the negotiations.
When, early in November, the Marchesino Stanga
and Gaspare San Severino came to Mantua and the
agreement with Francesco was finally concluded, they
visited Isabella in the Castello, and told the Duke
ISABELLA AND LODOVICO 149
that she could hardly contain her joy at seeing them.
Lodovico himself wrote to express his thanks for her
assistance, saying that the Marchesino had told him
how dUigently she had laboured to bring about this
happy result. On the 1st of January 1499, the
imperial envoy, Erasmo Brasca, solemnly delivered
the baton and standard of the King of the Romans
to the Marquis, in front of the church of S. Pietro.
Isabella witnessed the investiture from a platform
erected on the Piazza, and afterwards entertained
the ambassador at a banquet in the Castello. The
banner was solemnly blessed in the Cathedral and
borne through the city in procession, after which the
Marquis rode out with the ambassador to sup at his
villa of Goito, But it was reported at Venice that
the children in the street cried Marco ! Marco ! at
the sight of the lion on the banner, upon which the
German envoy looked puzzled, and the Marquis only
smiled and kept silence.^
All through this last year of his reign, when
Lodovico's enemies were busy plotting his de-
struction, Isabella was in constant communication
with her brother-in-law. He wrote regularly, giv-
ing her the latest political and court news, such,
for instance, as that of King Charles the Eighth's
sudden death in April 1498, and sent her baskets of
peaches and barrels of sweet wine, with charming
little notes caUing her his dearest sister and signing
himself " your most affectionate brother." And she in
return sent him the finest trout from Garda and swans
from the Mantuan lakes to sail in the moat of the
Castello, and thanked him cordially for his gracious
remembrance, while Evangelista, Francesco's famous
1 Sanuto, Diarii, ii. 256.
150 ISABELLA'S PORTRAIT
stud groom, tamed the Duke's horses and sent them
back in three days' time, fit for His Excellency to
ride.
One of the last letters which Isabella addressed to
Lodovico was a request for his permission to present
Giangaleazzo's widow, her cousin Isabella of Aragon,
with her portrait in colours. The Marchesa had
always shown the greatest kindness to this unfortunate
princess in the days of her rivalry with Beatrice, and
still corresponded with her frequently. In 1498, she
sent her a fine marble bust from Mantegna's collection,
which the Duchess was anxious to possess, as it was
supposed to resemble her, and allowed Leonardo's
pupil Beltraffio to copy a portrait of her late brother
King Ferrante II., that belonged to the Marquis.
Now Isabella of Aragon expressed a great wish for
her cousin's own portrait, and the Marchesa had it
painted by a Parma master, Gianfrancesco Maineri,
and sent to Milan by her master of the horse, Negro,
but prudently asked the Duke's leave before she pre-
sented the picture to his nephew's widow.^ " I am
afraid," she wrote pleasantly, " I shall weary, not only
Your Highness, but all Italy with the sight of my por-
traits, but I could not refuse Duchess Isabella's urgent
entreaties. I send this one, which is not really very
good and makes me look fatter than I am, and have
desired Negro to show it to Your Highness, and if
you approve, give it to the Duchess from me." The
Duke replied courteously that he admired the portrait
1 Luzio, Emporium, 1900, p. 352. This portrait may possibly
be the same as that in Mrs. Alfred Morrison's collection, which
was exhibited at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1894. Whether
it is the work of the Parma artist or of Beltraffio, who was at
Mantua at the time, the portrait bears a marked likeness to
Leonardo's drawing of Isabella.
INTRIGUES WITH FRANCE 151
and thought it very good, even if it made his sister-
in-law fatter than she was when he saw her last.
Isabella, we know, was inclined to embonpoint, and
Uved in constant teiTor of growing stout, as she did
in her later years. When she was at Pavia with
Beatrice in 1492, she informed her husband with
great satisfaction that her sister the Duchess had not
grown any taUer than herself, but was distinctly stouter
and seemed inchned to resemble her mother in this
respect. And in after years we find frequent allu-
sions to this tendency in her letters. The portrait
was sent to Milan in March 1499, when Lodo vice's
affairs were already in a critical state. A few weeks
earlier, in February 1499, the treaty between Venice
and France was signed, and the destruction of
Lodovico and partition of his State was finally deter-
mined. Isabella was spending carnival at Ferrara,
where her father was giving a series of Latin
comedies in her honour. She wrote off without a
moment's delay to her husband, telling him that
news of a treaty between the Signory and King
Louis of France had just reached Ferrara, and was
of such great importance that she must send to him
at once.
This seems to have decided Francesco's course of
action. His salary was in arrears ; the old grievance
against the Moro and Galeazzo rankled in his heart,
although he nominally retained his command, and
in May he made secret overtures to Louis XII.,
placing his sword at his service. The King replied
graciously, and soon afterwards sent him the Order
of St. Michael, at the same time recommending him
cordially to his Venetian allies. The prospect of an
alliance between the Pope and Louis XII. was still
152 FRANCESCO MEETS LOUIS XII
more alarming. The Pope's son Csesar Borgia had
been received with great favour at the French court
and created Duke of Valentinois, and his marriage to
Charlotte d'Albret took place at Blois on the 16th of
May. Both Francesco Gonzaga and Duke Ercole
began to tremble for their own safety, and instead of
taking up arms for the Moro, felt that the time had
come to defend their own States.
Meanwhile Isabella watched the course of affairs
with growing anxiety. She was sincerely grieved at
the downfall of Lodovico, who had been her true and
loyal friend, and thought with concern of her sister's
helpless children, whom she saw driven into exile.
But she was none the less eager to conciliate the
victor and save her husband and his State from ruin.
She sent gifts of falcons and trout to Louis XII.
when he was at Milan, a couple of dogs to Count
Egmont, and a horse to the Mar^chal de Giers, and
invited Monseigneur de Ligny, who was a connec-
tion of her family, to visit Mantua. And when, in
November 1499, she heard that Cardinal d'Amboise
expressed a great wish to have a devotional picture by
Mantegna, whom he held to be the first painter in
the world, she promptly ordered Messer Andrea to
paint a St. John the Baptist with the portrait and
arms of the French prelate, and sent the picture to
the Cardinal, who declared that he valued it more
than a gift of 2000 ducats.^ Both Duke Ercole and
the Marquis of Mantua hastened to meet the French
king when he reached Pavia, and accompanied him
on his triumphal entry into Milan. Young Baldassarre
Castiglione, the future writer of the Cortigiano, who
1 Pelissier, Les Amies de Ludovic Sforsa (Revue kistorique,
1891).
AT MILAN 153
was in attendance on his master Francesco Gonzaga,
wrote home to tell his friends at Mantua how the
Marquis and the king had attended mass at San Am-
brogio, and had afterwards been out hunting together,
and laid stress on the great friendliness and evident
conformity of tastes between His Most Christian
Majesty and the Marquis. " So I hope," he adds, not
without significance, " that all will go well now." ^
Yet Isabella's heart must have ached when she
heard of the havoc which the French invaders had
wrought in the fair halls of the Castello ; of the
foulness and dirt, the confusion and disorder which
reigned in that once beautiful palace. She must have
thought with a pang of the gorgeous tapestries and
priceless gems, antique marbles and cameos, the
pictures by Leonardo and the instruments by Lorenzo
da Pavia, of the rare manuscripts which Lodovico
had collected at infinite pains and cost, and of poor
Beatrice's rich embroideries and jewelled camoras,
which were now the spoil of the treacherous subjects
who had betrayed their prince. But she hid her grief
from other eyes, and showed a smiling face to the
world. And, with characteristic alacrity, she wrote
on the 13th of December 1499 to Antonio Palla-
vicino, who had been one of the chief traitors, begging
him to let her have the wonderful clavichord which
Lorenzo da Pavia had made for Beatrice four years
before. Antonio wrote back from Lodi, that he
would gladly execute her errand on his return to Milan,
and inquire what had become of the precious instru-
ment. More than a year elapsed before he was able
to gratify the Marchesa's desire, but Isabella's perse-
verance eventually triumphed over all difficulties, and
1 Serassi, Lettere di B. Castiglione.
154 MILANESE REFUGEES
on the 31st of July 1501, she wrote joyfully to tell her
friend Messer Lorenzo that the beautiful clavichord
which he had made for her sister, the Duchess of
blessed memory, had been given her by Messer
Galeazzo Pallavicino, the husband of her cousin,
Elisabetta Sforza. "And I felt," she adds, "that
I must let you know this, feeling sure you wiU be
glad to hear it was in my hands, being as it is your
work, and so excellent an instrument that it must
always be very dear to me." ^
At the same time, she showed the real warmth
of her heart by the tenderness with which she treated
the unfortunate Milanese exiles who came to seek
refuge at Mantua. Many of these were kinsfolk of
the Sforzas, or high-born ladies whom she had known
intimately at the Moro's court. Among them, strange
to say, were Lodovico's two mistresses, the accom-
plished Cecilia Gallerani and Lucrezia Crivelli. Isa-
bella entertained Cecilia courteously, and afterwards
recommended her to the favour of the French king,
as a lady of rare gifts and charm, while Lucrezia and
her two little sons found an asylum in the Rocca of
Canneto, and lived there many years under the pro-
tection of the Gonzagas.^ Another distinguished
visitor who spent some weeks at Mantua that
winter was the Marchesa's unfortunate cousin, Isa-
bella of Aragon, whose only son had been carried off
to France by Louis XII., and who, with her two
young daughters, was now on her way to Bari.
The two Sanseverino brothers, Antonio Maria,
with his wife Margherita Pia — an intimate friend
of Isabella— and the brave Captain Fracassa, also
1 Lorenzo Gusnasco, Carlo dell'Acqua, p. 20.
2 Luzio in Arch. St. Lomh., 1901, p. 154.
AT MANTUA 155
sought shelter at the Gonzagas' court ; and through
these refugees, who were in constant correspondence
with the exiled Duke at Innsbruck, Isabella heard
of the plots that were secretly made for his restora-
tion. And she heard from her friends Leonardo da
Vinci and Luca Pacioli, the great mathematician,
who visited Mantua on their way to Venice, how
cordially the people of MUan hated the French
invaders, and how confidently they looked for
Lodovico's return. When, in the first days of
February, the Moro crossed the Valtelline Alps
and entered Milan, amidst the acclamations of his
subjects, it was to Isabella that his first letter from
his old capital was addressed. He felt confident
of her sympathy in his triumph, as he had been in
his reverses, and he fondly imagined that he could
depend on the support of his brother-in-law. We
can imagine the breathless excitement, mingled with
anxious fears for those she loved best, with which
Isabella watched the course of events during those
thrilling days. Her own impulse was to throw
herself heart and soul into the Moro's cause, and
she wrote not only to her brother-in-law, but to
Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, saying that she longed to
fly to MUan, and fight against the French herself.
The Cardinal replied, not without meaning, that her
husband's presence would be more useful. But
Francesco was too cautious a man to commit him-
self to so desperate a venture. He returned evasive
answers to his brother-in-law's passionate entreaties
for help, and aU he did was to send his brother
Giovanni with a troop of horse to join Lodovico
before Novara.^ By this time the Moro's doom was
1 Prato, Cronaca Milanese; Arch. St. It, iii. 244.
156 FINAL RUIN OF LODOVICO
already sealed, and when, on the 10th of April, he
was given up to the French general Trivulzio, it was
Giovanni Gonzaga who rode alone, as fast as his
horse could bear him, to bring the news to Mantua.*
Then Isabella knew that Lodovico's ruin was com-
plete and irrevocable. All her efforts were now
directed to conciliate the French victors, and to
recover the favour of King Louis, who complained
of Francesco's disloyalty to his ally in sending his
brother to fight against him, and in receiving the
Sforza partisans at Mantua. She herself was openly
denounced by the French circles at MUan as an
inveterate Sforzesca, and it needed all the influence
of her father and brothers to prevent an open
breach. By the exercise of her wonted tact and
diplomacy the Marchesa, however, succeeded in
averting the threatened rupture, and both she and
her husband eventually regained the good graces of
the French monarch.
1 Muratori, xxiv. 386.
CHAPTER X
1497—1500
Isabella's literary and artistic interests — Foundation of the Studio
of the Grotta in the Corte Vecchia — Mantegna's paintings for
the Grotta — Cristoforo Romano comes to Mantua — Works for
the studio — His medal of Isabella — Correspondence with
Niccolo da Correggio — Leonardo da Vinci visits Mantua —
Draws Isabella's portrait — Shows it to Lorenzo da Pavia at
Venice — Isabella intends to raise a monument to Virgil — Her
letter to Jacopo d'Atri.
During these troubled years at the close of the
fifteenth century, when poUtical affairs occupied so
large a share of Isabella's time and thoughts, and
private sorrows and public calamities both fell heavily
upon her, she lost none of her interest in art and
letters. On the contrary, it was just in these anxious
days that she was most actively engaged in corre-
sponding with painters and scidptors, and in securing
works of art for her camerini. From the first day
that she came to Mantua the decoration of her rooms,
as we have already seen, had been one of her favourite
amusements, and she had employed her agents in
Venice and Milan and Ferrara to coUect those rare
and precious objects with which she loved to surround
herself. Before long she found the little studio of the
Castello was unable to contain aU her treasures, and
about the year 1496 she obtained her husband's leave
to remove some of her most valued possessions to
another suite of rooms on the ground floor of the
167
158 THE STUDIO OF THE GROTTA
Corte Vecchia. Since the erection of the Castello
the halls in this part of the old palace, which had
formerly belonged to the Bonacolsi, had been partly
used as public offices, while others contained Fran-
cesco's fine collection of armour. But the ground
floor remained unoccupied and afforded Isabella an
excellent opportunity for carrying out her plans.
Here then, in a hall looking out on the Piazza del
Pallone, she now founded her famous Studio of the
Grotta. An inventory, taken three years after her
death, gives a full list of the paintings, statues,
bronzes, and medals which it contained,' while a
poem, written by RaffaeUe Toscana in 1586, supplies
some interesting details regarding the place itself.
Quel loco che'l mondo la Grotta appella. " Here,"
sings the poet, "are hidden the rarest treasures of
Italy. Here is the suite of fine rooms which the mag-
nanimous Isabella d'Este built and richly adorned.
Two of these contain works of art which fill mortals
with joy and wonder. They are decorated with rich
gilding, with exquisite designs and intricate carving.
Here Mantegna and other masters display their
genius in sublime painting." The five pictures by
Mantegna, Costa, and Perugino were still in the
Grotta in 1627, and Duke Vincenzo refused to sell
them to Charles I. with the rest of the Mantuan
collection ; but they were bought by Cardinal Riche-
heu immediately after the sack of the town in 1630,
and are now in the Louvre. The beautiful fittings of
the rooms, the richly carved and gilded wood-work,
the delicate intarsiatura, and the majolica pavement
were destroyed by the Austrian soldiers, who occupied
the palace during 150 years, and only the outer court
1 D'Arco, Arte e Artefici, ii. 134.
■■: ., •• Kj-Bi
■pp •^ iS^'iA.3
Imm -^^
*--
1
taafc ^kmif- ''am.;,
1^^^^\ ,^ : r^^' 4
ITS DECORATIONS 159
and the room known as the Scalcheria or CaneeUeria
retain any of the original decorations. But frag-
ments of the pavement, of coloured Pesaro tiles,
bearing the Gonzaga devices, the crucible and faggots,
which Francesco adopted, the sun which decorated
his father's Camera del Sole, the dove bearing the
motto, Semper, the black eagles and golden lion
granted to his ancestors by the Emperor Sigismondo,
and many other favourite emblems, may still be seen
in pubKc and private galleries, at South Kensington
Museum, and Berlin, in the Andrd Rothschild collec-
tion.^
According to Abbot BettineUi, who described the
palace of the Gonzagas in the eighteenth century,
the studio took its name from the outer court leading
to the gardens, which was decorated in the grottesca
style, with stuccoed vaults and niches, and marble
columns, and adorned with statues and bas-reliefs.
The inscription on the walls of the Cortile bears the
date of 1522, and shows that it was enlarged and im-
proved when, at her son's request, Isabella gave up her
old rooms in the Castello to inhabit the Corte Vecchia.
But the new studio already went by the name of the
Grotta at the close of the fifteenth century, and con-
tained the Marchesa's finest pictures and choicest
books, as well as an infinite number of other beautiful
objects which she had collected from aU parts of
Italy. In May 1498, she dates a letter to her hus-
band from the Grotta,^ and from that time we find
frequent allusions to this favourite spot in her
correspondence.
It was Isabella's dream to make this Grotta a
1 Yriarte, Gazette d. B. Arts, 1895.
2 Luzio e Renier in Arch. St. Lomb., xvii. 654.
160 ISABELLA'S ART TREASURES
place of retreat from the world, where she could
enjoy the pleasures of solitude or the company of a
few chosen friends, surrounded by beautiful paintings
and exquisite works of art. Here she would read
her favourite authors or sing Virgil and Petrarch's
verses to her lute. Here she would play the clavi-
chord with the Greek and Latin mottoes which had
once adorned Beatrice's camerino in the stately
CasteUo of Milan, and listen to the strains of Jacopo
de San Secondo's viol or the recitations of the won-
derful improvisatore Serafino. Here she would spend
delicious hours with Duchess Elisabetta and her
sister-in-law, Emilia Pia, and give herself up to the
joys of intimate converse with the best and closest of
friends. In this sanctuary, from which the cares and
noise of the outer world were banished, it was Isa-
bella's dream that the walls should be adorned with
paintings giving expression to her ideals of culture
and disposing the mind to pure and noble thoughts.
The subjects of these pictures were to be classic
myths with allegorical meanings, chosen by herself
with the help of some favourite humanist of her
circle, and painted by the foremost masters of the
day.
During the next seven or eight years Isabella
applied herself to attain this object with aU the
perseverance and tenacity of her character. No
stone was left unturned, no chance of enriching her
collection was ever thrown away. Again and again
in her letters she begged her chosen agents, Zorzo
Brognolo in Venice, Ziliolo or Capilupi at Ferrara,
to send her "some beautiful thing for the studio."
Greek and Roman antiques, marble heads and reliefs
newly discovered in ruins of the Eternal City or
MANTEGNA'S PARNASSUS 161
among the temples of the Ionian Isles, reached Mantua
in response to her urgent request. She did not scruple
to ask Caesar Borgia, who drove out Duke Guidobaldo,
or the Pallavicini, who betrayed her brother-in-law,
to give her the spoUs of Milan and Urbino. The
greatest painters, the most distinguished sculptors
and goldsmiths of the day, Mantegna, BeUini,
Perugino, Costa, Michel Angelo, Cristoforo Romano,
Raphael himself, were aU in turn desired to contrib-
ute some picture or statue to the decoration of the
Grotta. Often she met with refusals, oftener still
with delays and disappointments, but still she perse-
vered with the unwearied ardour, the indomitable
passion of the true collector. First of aU she began
with Mantegna. Of all living masters, none shared
Isabella's enthusiasm for antiquity or was more truly
inspired with classic feeling than this old servant of
the Gonzagas. Since his return from Rome he had
been too busUy engaged on the Triumphs, and the
decoration of Francesco's villas at Marmirolo and
Gonzaga, to work for the Marchesa, and the one
portrait which he had painted, had failed to satisfy
her critical taste. But the task which she gave him
now appealed in a peculiar manner to his imagination,
and in the two magnificent tempera paintings which
he executed for the Marchesa's new studio, the aged
master rose to new heights of creative power and
romantic invention. In the one, Venus the Queen
of Love is throned on the green slopes of Parnassus
by the side of Mars, the God of War, and at the
foot of the sacred mount, Apollo and the Muses
celebrate her triumph in joyous songs and dances.
A drawing of the central figure in the lower group
by Mantegna's pen has been preserved at Munich,
VOL. I. L
162 THE DANCING MUSE
and in this INIuse, who leads the dance, we recognise
the fair face and radiant smile of the young Marchesa
herself, whom the painter has here introduced as the
presiding genius of the studio/ In the other picture,
Minerva is seen armed with spear and helmet rushing
out of a thicket and chasing the Vices of Ignorance,
Ingratitude, Sloth, and Lust from the green bowers
and cypress arbours of a sheltered garden. There
can be little doubt that the idea of this new series
of Triumphs, in which the victory of moral force and
of that supreme excellence which under the name of
virtib was so often on the lips of Isabella and her
contemporaries, originated with Mantegna., and that
the Marchesa afterwards adapted it with the help of
the humanist Paride Ceresara to the other pictures
of the cycle. ^
The Parnassus or Triumph of Love, which is by
far the finest of the two paintings, was completed by
Andrea in the summer of 1497. The Marchesa,
in a letter written that spring, thanked her friend
Lorenzo da Pavia for some new varnish which he
had sent from Venice, and which was so excellent
that Messer Andrea would like to have twice as
much, and on the 3rd of July Alberto da Bologna
wrote to Isabella, who was absent at Ferrara:
"Nothing is now wanting to the studio of Your
Highness, and you will find Messer Andrea's picture
has been hung and its pedestal and frame gilded." ^
The companion picture of the Triumph of Virtue
was probably finished by the end of the century, but
even before this Isabella was doing her utmost to
1 B. Berenson, " The Drawings of Mantegna/' p. 4.
2 Cf. Dr. Paul Kristeller, " A. Mantegna," pp. 348, 349.
8 Yriarte, Gazette d. B. AHs, 1895.
PERUGINO 163
obtain works from other masters. When the Mar-
quis visited Venice on his return from Naples, Isabella
desired him to tell Giovanni Bellini how anxious she
was that he should paint a picture for her studio,
and on the 26th of November 1496, Alberto da
Bologna, who was in attendance on his master, wrote
to say that the painter had promised to satisfy her as
soon as possible. In the same letter, the faithful
servant, who may have felt it necessary to assure his
mistress of her husband's loyalty, adds : " Not a day
passes but His Excellency speaks of Your Highness
in the most affectionate terms. Your image is
graven on his heart, and he always speaks of you as of
a dear and sweet daughter." On the 3rd of April 1497,
Isabella asked Lorenzo da Pavia, with whom she was
in constant correspondence, if his friend the painter
Perugino were ahve or dead. A report of the
Austrian master's death had, it appears, reached her
ears, but if he were ahve and in Venice she begged
Lorenzo to ask him to paint a picture for her studio.^
Perugino was alive, but had left Venice some months
before, and Lorenzo no doubt told Isabella how
full of work the painter was, and how long the Duke
of Milan and the Prior of the Certosa had waited
in vain for their altar-piece. But many more
years were to pass before either Giovanni Bellini
or Perugino could be prevailed upon to satisfy the
Marchesa's wishes. As she wrote to her friend
Ceresara : " We only wish that we could be as well
served by painters as we are by men of letters. But
we know that the wish is vain. We must be content
to take what they choose or are able to give us." ^
1 Yriarte, op. cit.
2 Ibid., 1896.
164 CmSTOFORO ROMANO
Meanwhile, the Marchesa had been fortunate in
securing the services of a master whose rare excel-
lence she had long admired — the sculptor Giovanni
Cristoforo Romano. This accomplished artist, who
was born in Rome about 1465, and sent to Milan by-
Cardinal Ascania Sforza, was employed on the works
of the Certosa of Pavia, and became one of Beatrice
d'Este's favourite singers. In this capacity he ac-
companied her on aU her journeys, " and was with
her," as Marchesino Stanga wrote, "now in one
place, now in another." From his boyhood Cristoforo
had devoted himself to the study of antique art in
Rome, and did his utmost to prevent the Eternal
City from being stripped of its precious marbles.
Sabba da Castighone tells us that he was as fine a
connoisseur as Mantegna, and in the Cortigiano he is
ranked with Michel Angelo among the foremost
sculptors of the age, and would have rivalled him in
greatness if he had not suiFered from constant ill-
health. Since Isabella had seen his charming
bust of Beatrice, on her first visit to Milan, she
had been very anxious to obtain a similar effigy of
herself, and had begged Lodovico to allow the
sculptor to come to Mantua. But although the
Duke and Duchess had readily granted her re-
quest, Cristoforo had excused himself from accept-
ing the Marchesa's invitation until he had finished
his work at the Certosa, and it was not tiU after
Beatrice's death that he consented to leave Milan.
In April 1497, Isabella again begged Lodovico to
allow Messer Zoan Cristoforo to come to Mantua,
as she wished for his advice on certain works, and
in September she wrote to Benedetto Tosabezzi,
her agent at Venice, enclosing a letter from "our
DOOR IN THE GROTTA 165
sculptor and servant, M. Zoan Cristoforo Romano,"
desiring the Venetian engineer, Antonio Riecio, to
send him certain Carrara marbles, with which she
wished him to adorn her studio.^ From this letter it
is plain that Cristoforo was already in her service, and
that he was about to design the beautiful doorway
which may stiU be seen in her apartment of the
Paradiso, on the upper floor of the Corte Vecchia.
Since these rooms were only built in 1520, when the
Marchesa gave up her old apartments in the Castello,
there can be little doubt that this white marble
portal, richly encrusted with porphyry and other
coloured stones, and adorned with classical bas-reliefs,
was originally destined for the Studio of the Grotta.
The subjects of these medallions agree exactly with
Mantegna's pictures and with the general scheme of
decoration. Minerva appears in one tondo, armed
with spear and olive ; in another, Apollo hangs up
his lyre on the trunk of a tree ; and on a third we
see the Muse of Poetry and Eloquence represented
with a book and cornucopia ; while the whole is
framed in a frieze of Greek vases, griffins, and doves,
and carved with exquisite deUcacy.
We recognise this gifted sculptor's hand in two
sepulchral monuments, bearing the date of 1498, in
the Gonzagas' favourite sanctuary of S. Maria deUa
Grazie, near Mantua, and Dr. Luzio has lately
discovered two sketches of the Marquis Francesco's
device of the crogiolo or crucible, which he designed
in the same year. We learn from a letter, which
Isabella sent to the sculptor in Rome in March 1506,
that soon after his arrival at Mantua he had carved
her bust in marble for her faithful servant, Ales-
1 Luzio e Renier, Arch. St. Lomb., xvii. 51.
166 PORTRAIT-MEDAL
sandrb da Baesso, and afterwards repeated the work
on a smaller scale, for her friend, the Marchesa di
Cotrone. Unfortunately both these busts have per-
ished. But one memorable work which Cristoforo
executed at this period has fortunately survived.
This is the famous portrait-medal of Isabella, with
a winged figure driving away a serpent on the re-
verse, and the sign of the Archer and her favourite
device of a star above. The latter group was prob-
ably intended as a symbolic representation of the
Marchesa's virtues and wisdom ; while the motto,
Benemerentium ergo, is an evident allusion to her
protection of art and letters. But the great value of
Cristoforo's medal consists in the authentic portrait
which it gives us of Isabella, as she was at the age
of twenty-four. The beautiful face with its regular
features is seen in profile, the waving locks are
loosely caught up in a knot at the back of the head,
and a single string of pearls adorns the bare throat.
And, in order to leave no room for doubt, the words
" Isabella Esten, March, Man.," are inscribed round
the head. Fortunately we possess documents which
fix the date of this medal with absolute certainty.
The one is a letter of September 1498, in which a
Ferrara poet, Giacomo FaeUa, tells the Marchesa
that his friend Tebaldeo, with whom he has been
spending the summer in the hills near Brescia, has
shown him the medal of Her Excellency, and that
the sight of her fair face has inspired him with a
sonnet.^ The other is a letter from Niccolo da
Correggio, regarding the Latin motto which the
Marchesa had desired him to choose for her medal.^
1 D'Arco, Arch. St. It, App. ii.
2 Luzio e Renier, Giom. St. d. Lett., v., xxi., 243.
NICCOLO'S MOTTO 167
After the death of the Duchess Beatrice this
brilliant cavalier left Milan to visit his old home at
Correggio, but feared to accept a pressing invitation
from Isabella to bring his daughter, Leonora, to see
her, lest he should bring the plague to Mantua. On
the 8th of June he wrote from the heart of Petrarch's
country : —
" To-morrow, my dear lady, I am going to dine at
Selvapiena, two miles from Rosena, where the most
celebrated Messer Francesco Petrarca composed
so many works. It is a pleasant spot, fit for such
exercises, and if you read the life which is printed
with his sonnets and triumphs, you will see it
mentioned. So I go there joyfully, in spite of the
long journey to Rosena, which is twenty-five miles
from Correggio and a very remote place. I shall
remain there some days and await the commands of
Your Excellency, whose slave I am for ever."
In July he came to Mantua, and falling ill soon
after his departure, wrote gallantly to his lady : " I
parted with Your Excellency and with my own
health at the same moment." The following May
found him again at Correggio, from which place he
wrote to tell Isabella that he hoped soon to be
allowed to visit the "retreat of the Grotta," to
which his secretary, the accomplished soldier and
poet who went by the name of "II prete di
Correggio," had been lately admitted. " If I am
allowed this favour I shall count myself honoured
indeed, and if you do not let me in, I must reluctantly
confess my inferiority and seek to learn of my
more fortunate servant." A few days afterwards,
Isabella wrote begging him to send her a suitable
motto for Cristoforo's medal. In reply, Niccolo
168 NICCOLO'S LETTERS
suggested the Latin words, Benemerentium causa,
which, however, did not please her, as she had seen
this motto before and desired something entirely
new and original, upon which Niccolo replied, on the
18th of May :—
" It certainly would not do for a lady of so rare
a merit to adopt a motto which had ever been used
by another, although I must -own that I had never
seen it before. Nevertheless to please my sovereign
lady I will say Benemerentium ergo, which has the
same meaning as Benemerentium causa. This will
show you how blindly I obey Your Excellency ! I
send back your cavalier as quickly as possible, only
grieving that I cannot be with you myself for
another week, as I must go to Milan. — Your servant,
Niccolo da Coereggio.
" P.S. — I have thought of two more lines which
I wiU add, although they are of little worth.
Naturae oflScium
Gratitudinis studio."
Niccolo met the Marchesa again in the following
spring at Ferrara, where she entertained her father's
guests and presided at the carnival balls and fetes.
After the Moro's fall he fixed his residence once
more at Duke Ercole's court, where he was much
beloved by all the princes of Este and became a
devoted admirer of Alfonso's second wife, Lucrezia
Borgia. But he still owned allegiance to Isabella,
and sent her canzoni and capitoli on the pattern of
his favourite Petrarch's compositions. One sonnet of
his which especially pleased her was composed in
memory of a beautiful youth in Rome, who had
lately died in the arms of his mistress. Isabella on
her part sent him presents of fish from Garda, and
TO ISABELLA 169
when, in 1506, his son Galeazzo naarried the fair and
accomplished Ginevra Rangoni she presented the
bride with a splendid clavichord. "Your Excel-
lency,'' wrote Niccolo from Correggio, " has sent a
most beautiful clavichord to my daughter-in-law, and
has very kindly ordered Domino Philippi to put it in
order. Besides the thanks which my daughter her-
self is sending you, I felt that I must thank you
personally for these favours, for which we cannot be
too grateful. As for the song which you ask me to
select from Petrarch, I have chosen one of those
which I like best, beginning: Si e dehole il file a cut
s'atiene, which seems to me well suited for your
purpose, containing verses which must be sung by
turn crescendo and diminuendo. With it I send
one of my own songs, composed in a similar metre,
which you can sing to the same tune as the Petrarca
canzone, and also a poem in imitation of Petrarch's
Chiare, dolce et fresche acque. Once more I com-
mend myself to your good graces, and am keeping
Domino Philippi till to-morrow." ^
But Isabella was never satisfied, and a few months
later wrote in great distress because her favourite
maid of honour had lately died, and no one could
find the last capitoli and sonnets which Niccolo had
sent her. Fortunately Niccolo, who, as a rule, never
transcribed his verses, was able to supply another copy
of the poem beginning with the words : Non si e
ardito il cor, which the Marchesa especially wished
to read, and with his old gallantry wrote that, old as
he was growing, he was still young enough to dance
with her, and to ride at the ring, and break a lance,
for her sake, in the coming jousts.
1 Luzio e Renier, op. cit., p. 244.
170 SERAFINO'S POEMS
Many other poets and artists there were who, hke
Cristoforo Romano and Niccolo da Correggio, found
their way to Mantua or Ferrara, when Beatrice's tragic
death had, in Galmeta's words, turned that brilliant
court "from a joyous paradise into the blackest hell."
Calmeta himself, " Velegantisdmo Calmeta," as he was
called by his contemporaries, who had been her
sister's secretary, spent some time that summer at
Mantua and dedicated his commentary on Petrarch's
canzone, Mai non vo cantar, to the Marchesa, and
Serafino, the famous singer and actor, who was so great
a favourite with all the Este and Gonzaga princes, also
accepted Isabella's invitation. During the year which
he spent at Mantua, after Beatrice's death, the Duke
and Duchess of Urbino begged him in vain to come
and amuse them for a little while, and both Cardinal
d'Este and his brother Ferrante asked Isabella for
copies of his stramhotti and capitoli. The Marchesa,
however, was very jealous of these poems which
Serafino composed for her benefit, and when Bishop
Louis Gonzaga of Gazzuolo asked her for a certain
capitolo " On Sleep," which the poet had lately written,
begged him to keep it under lock and key and not
allow any one to see it, as she particularly wished
these charming verses not to become public property.
" This, however," she adds, " you will, I fear, find to
be a very difficult thing." ^
But the greatest of all the Milanese artists who
came to Mantua after Lodovico Sforza's exile was
the Florentine master, Leonardo da Vinci. Isabella
had often met the distinguished artist who stood
so high in the Moro's favour, and had seen and
admired his masterpieces in painting and sculpture.
1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 93.
frJ^rriJie'r'ieLC' ^>4%u^eK/rt^, ^^n/ruzyj
LEONARDO'S PORTRAIT 171
A year after Beatrice's death, on the 26th of April
1498, she sent to beg Ceciha Gallerani, Lodo-
vico's former mistress, to lend her the portrait
which Leonardo had painted some years before, in
order that she might compare it with some fine
portraits by Giovanni Bellini which she had just
seen. Cecilia hastened to gratify the Marchesa's
wish, and sent back Leonardo's picture by Isabella's
messenger, saying that she only wished it were a
better likeness ; not that this was the master's fault,
for there was no painter in the world who could equal
him, but because, when he painted it, she was of
"youthfiil and imperfect age."^ Leonardo himself
seems to have paid a flying visit to Mantua in the
following December, for in a letter from his villa
of Goito, the Marquis desires his treasurer to pay
Leonardo the Florentine eleven ducats for certain
strings of lute and viol which he had brought
from Milan, and begs him to do this at once, in
order that the master may be able to continue his
journey.^ But we know that he and his friend
Luca Pacioh, who dedicated his " Book of Games "
to the Marchesa, visited Mantua on their way to
Venice at the close of 1499. It was on this occa-
sion that Leonardo drew the beautiful portrait of
Isabella, in red chalk, which is now in the Louvre.
The late M. Yriarte was the first to recognise
Isabella's features in this drawing of the VaUardi
collection, and although Dr. Luzio has lately ex-
pressed doubt on the subject, there seems little
reason to question the fact. Leonardo has drawn
the brilliant Marchesa's portrait in his own fashion —
1 " Beatrice d'Este," pp. 53, 54.
2 Luzio, Emporium, 1900, p. 352.
172 LORENZO DA PAVIA
wearing a simple striped bodice, with the waves of
rippling hair falling low on her bare neck, without
ornament or jewel of any description. But the fine
and dehcate features are the same as those in the
medal which Cristoforo designed two years before;
the eyes have the same bright and keen expression,
and the whole face is radiant with life and intellect.
Time has dealt hardly with Isabella's portraits, and
of all those countless pictures which were scattered
over Italy, this of Leonardo's is the only one which
brings her before us in the bloom of youth and
beauty. As it happens, we have a testimony to
the truth of Leonardo's portrait from no less an
authority than the great connoisseur Lorenzo da
Pavia. For the Florentine master went on from
Mantua to Venice, there to await the issue of Duke
Lodovico's descent on Milan, and to watch with
anxious eyes the result of that forlorn hope, on
which his whole future was staked. There he met
his old friend, the wise man of Pavia, and as they
talked together of their great patron and the old
life at Milan, the painter brought out his drawing
of the Marchesa and showed it to her loyal servant.
And on the 13th of March 1500, while they were
rejoicing over the wonderful news from Milan,
Messer Lorenzo wrote to the Marchesa about a
lute which he was sending to Mantua.
"Most illustrious Lady, — I send you by this
courier an excellent lute of walnut wood, made in
the Spanish fashion, which seems to me to have the
finest tone that I ever heard. I have been ill,
and as yet unable to finish the black and white
lute, which I will do, like this one, in the Spanish
style. Leonardo Vinci is in Venice, and has shown
ADMIRES LEONARDO'S DRAWING 173
me a portrait of Your Highness, which is exactly
Uke you, and is so well done that it is not pos-
sible for it to be better." ^
Leonardo, it appears, took a copy of his car-
toon to Venice, and left the other at Mantua, for,
a year afterwards, the Marchesa sent a message
to him in Florence, begging him to send her a
replica of his drawing, since the Marquis had given
away the copy which she had kept. But he never
painted her portrait in colours, as he had promised
on that brief and memorable visit, and not all
Isabella's eiForts and entreaties were able to ob-
tain a picture by his hand for her studio.
In this J same year, when Leonardo came to
Mantua, Isabella was intent on a new scheme, the
erection of a statue to Virgil in the square in front
of the CasteUo. Early in the century, Carlo Mala-
testa, acting as regent for his nephew, the young
Gianfrancesco Gonzaga, had, in a fit of misguided
piety, thrown a statue of Virgil which adorned the
Piazza di S. Pietro into the Mincio, saying that the
people of Mantua paid the Roman poet a homage
only due to a saint. The Marquis Lodovico, who
had learnt from his great teacher, Vittorino da Feltre,
how to reverence Virgil, had been very anxious to
restore this statue, but had never been able to carry
out his pious intention. Now the discovery of an
antique bust which Battista Fiera, a learned Mantuan
physician, pronounced to be the true effigy of Virgil,
fired Isabella with ambition to raise a monument to
the Mantuan poet. She naturally proposed to entrust
the work to the artist of aU others best fitted for the
task, Andrea Mantegna. A letter which her hus-
1 A. Baschet, Aide Manuce.
174 MONUMENT TO VIRGIL
band's secretary, Jacopo d'Atri, wrote to her from
Naples, shows the enthusiasm which her intention
excited among classical scholars.
" Most illustrious and excellent Madonna, — Your
Excellency has doubtless heard of the great merits
and talents of Pontanus,^ of whom we may truly say
that not only in our own time, but since the days of
Virgil, there has never been a man of greater learning
or more real merit. Yesterday, after having a long
conversation with him in the name of your illustrious
lord, I remembered Your Highness's desire to raise
a statue to Virgil, and thought I would consult him
on the subject and hear his advice. I told him
I did this by your order, and explained the object
which animated Your Highness and inspired your
magnanimous soul with the wish to caiTy out this
idea. As soon as Pontanus heard this, he called two
learned gentlemen and said to them : ' If Paolo
Vergerio, who wrote De Educando Liberis, were
present, the pleasure that he would have in recog-
nising the generous soul of this illustrious Madonna
would exceed the sadness which he felt on hearing
that Carlo Malatesta had thrown the statue of Virgil
into the river.' Then, laying stress on these words, he
added : ' Only consider, gentlemen, the magnanimity
of this lady of tender years and without classical
learning, who determines to revive the fame of this
great man, and to render honour and glory to
Mantua, where the same lord. Carlo, a man of ex-
1 Pontanus, to whom he here alludes, was not only an elegant
Latin poet, whose verses were afterwards published by Aldus,
but held high office under King Alfonso^ of Naples and his son
Ferrante, and enjoyed [the confidence of the reigning monarch,
Federico.
ADVICE OF PONTANUS 175
perience and learning, outraged the poet's memory
and the fame of that noble city. Here, indeed, is a
royal lady, worthy of all praise and commendation,
and had I heard of this before, I would certainly have
given her a place in my book De Magnanimitate.'
We then proceeded to discuss the question whether
the poet's statue should be made of bronze or marble,
and agreed that although bronze is certainly the
nobler material, yet, since there is always a risk that
it may be melted down to make guns or bells, we
should prefer a fine marble statue, placed on a noble
pedestal in some honourable place. The work should
be given to some good sculptor, who would take the
poet's portrait from nature, for I had just told Pon-
tanus of the effigy lately discovered by Messer
Battista deUa Fiera. And in order not to depart
from the antique style, the statue should stand by
itself, with a laurel crown on the head, and the
drapery, either an antique toga caught upon the
shoulder or a senator's robe, such as Messer Andrea
Mantegna may think best. The hands should hold
nothing, and the statue should be perfectly plain, with-
out a book or anjrthing else, but with antique sandals
on the feet, and the attitude would be such as Messer
Andrea shaU decide. At the base there should only
be a few words, such as — Puhlius Virgilius Mantuanus,
and also — Isabella Marchionissa Mantuce restituit — as
may please Your Excellency. These gentlemen
agreed that Pontanus must consider what would be
the best words to be engraved on the base, and he
agreed to do this wiUingly. What I did will, I
hope, be agreeable to Your Excellency, since it was
prompted by true affection, and by one who desires
your glory and feels that this will bring you immortal
176 DESIGN ASCRIBED TO MANTEGNA
fame. — Your slave and servant, Jacopo d'Atri."^
Naples, 17th March 1499.
A drawing, now in the His de la Salle collection
in the Louvre, of a statue of Virgil, covered with
laurel and holding the ^neid, in the style, although
not by the hand, of Mantegna, was probably executed
by Isabella's order, but her project was never carried
out, and Mantua was left without a monument of her
greatest son. The only memorial erected in Isabella's
lifetime was the fine terra-cotta bust of Virgil, which,
in 1511, the doctor Battista Fiera placed on an arch
in front of the church of S. Francesco, together with
a bust of the Marquis, and of the Carmelite poet
Battista SpagnuoU. The arch was destroyed by the
Austrians in 1852, but the three busts are stUl
preserved in the Museum of Mantua.
1 A. Baschet, Gazette d. B. Arts, 1866,
CHAPTER XI
1500—1502
Birth of Isabella's son Federico — Caesar Borgia his godfather —
Relations of the Gonzagas with him — Elisabetta of Urbino
goes to Rome — Letters of Sigismondo Cantelmo — Comedies at
Ferrara and Mantua — Treaty of Granada and partition of
Naples — Caesar Borgia conquers Romagna — Abdication and
exile of Federico, King of Naples — Betrothal of Alfonso d'Este
to Lucrezia Borgia — Preparations for the marriage in Rome —
II Prete's letters to Isabella — Wedding of Lucrezia and her
journey to Ferrara.
The year 1500, which saw the final ruin of Lodovico
Sforza and the rise of Caesar Borgia, was a memor-
able one for Isabella d'Este, both in her public
and private life. On the 17th of May, within a
month of the catastrophe of Novara, she gave birth,
in the CasteUo of Mantua, to the long-wished-
for son and heir. Some time before, Suor Osanna
foretold this event, and bade the Marchesa be of
good cheer, since her prayers were heard and she
would soon bear a son.^ Now the joyful news
was hailed with acclamation, not only throughout
Mantuan territory, but at Ferrara and Urbino. The
sumptuous cradle which Duke Ercole had sent for
his first grandchild's birth, and which Isabella had
refused to let her daughters use, was at length
brought out; and the happy mother borrowed Spanish
leather hangings and tapestries from Ferrara for the
1 Donesmondi, Storia Eccles. di Mantova.
VOL. L "' M
178 BIRTH OF FEDERICO
decoration of her iiifant son's nurseries at his chris-
tening. This ceremony took place on the 16th of
July, but was not marked by any public rejoicings.
As Isabella wrote to her sister-in-law, " the troubled
state of Italy has deprived him of a more honourable
baptism." ^ The choice of the godfathers was signifi-
cant. The first was the Emperor Maximilian, whose
friendship the Marquis was anxious to secure without
breaking with Louis XII., and who was himself
rejoicing over the birth of his grandson, the future
Emperor Charles V. Little did Isabella know how
great an influence the babe, who first saw the
light at Ghent, on that auspicious Feast of St.
Matthias, was destined to wield over the fate
of Italy and the fortunes of her new-born son.
The second of Federico's sponsors was Cardinal
Sanseverino, the warlike prelate, who, like all his
brothers, had been a devoted partisan of the Sforzas,
and had entered Milan at the head of the Moro's
followers. None the less, he had, a few months
before, succeeded in making his peace with France,
through the friendship of Cardinal d'Amboise, and
soon afterwards returned to Milan. The third august
personage whom the Marquis chose to hold his son
at the font was Caesar Borgia. The Pope's son, as
young Castiglione wrote home, was the tallest and most
splendid-looking man among all the princes and nobles
who escorted Louis XII. on his entry into MUan.
Now he was rapidly becoming the most prominent
figure in Italian politics. His energy of wiU and
powers of mind were as great as his strength of
body ; his ambition was as boundless as his courage.
His influence over the Pope was absolute. He was
1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 106.
CiESAR BORGIA HIS SPONSOR 179
already master of Rome and aspired to reign over all
Italy. The Pope's son, wrote the Ferrarese envoy,
Pandolfo CoUenuceio, " has a great soul and seeks
fame and grandeur, but cares more to conquer States
than to govern and defend them. He is fierce in his
revenge and never forgives a wrong, so I hear on aU
sides." The truth of this report was confirmed by the
Pope himself, who remarked, in conversation with
another Ferrara agent, Costabili : " The Duke is a
good-natured man, but he cannot forgive an insult.
The other day I told him that Rome was a free city,
where every one had a right to say what he pleased.
' That may be all very well for Rome,' replied
Csesar, ' but I will teach people to be sorry for what
they say.' " ^
From the first, Francesco Gonzaga and his wife
realised the growing power of Duke Valentino, as he
was popularly called in Italy, and lost no opportunity
of conciliating this dangerous personage. A few days
after his son's birth, the Marquis wrote to ask him to
stand sponsor to the little Federico, an honour which
Cgesar accepted with alacrity, as we learn from a note
written on the 24th of May : —
" I heard of the fortunate and much-desired birth
of Your Excellency's little son with exultation as
great as if it had been my own, and gladly accept
the honour you propose to do me, begging that you
will depute one of your councillors to represent me
at the font and will give my congratulations to your
most illustrious consort, hoping this babe may be the
first of a numerous race of sons destined to perpetuate
the name of two such noble and glorious parents." ^
1 Pastor, "History of the Popes/' vi. 113.
2 F. Gregorovius, " Lucrezia Borgia," p. 66.
180 ELISABETTA GONZAGA
But enough was known of Caesar Borgia's designs
at Mantua to excite the worst fears, and the
suspicion which the Marquis Francesco entertained
of his new ally is evident from a letter which he
addressed to Elisabetta of Urbino, in March 1500,
begging his sister to abandon her intended visit to
Rome.
Already in the summer of 1499, the Duchess had
invited Isabella to accompany her on a pilgrimage
to Rome in this year of Jubilee, but the critical
state of public affairs in Lombardy and the approach-
ing birth of her child compelled the Marchesa re-
luctantly to decline the proposal. As the time of
Elisabetta's journey drew near, the Marquis became
seriously alarmed for his sister's safety, and urged
her by their mutual love to consider the present
state of things and the risks to which she would be
exposed. If she is in need of change, let her come
to Mantua and give his wife the pleasure of her
company. " The year is long," he adds, " and later
on we will all three go to Rome and visit the holy
places together in a more convenient season." But
when this letter reached the Duchess, she was already
on her way to the Colonnas at Marino, and wrote
to the Marquis from Assisi, full of concern at the
objections which he raised to her plans.
" Most illustrious Prince and dearest Brother, —
A few days ago I left Urbino on my way to Rome
to keep the Jubilee, as I told you some time ago,
and this morning reached Assisi, where I received
your letter begging me to give up my journey.
This has caused me the greatest possible grief and
vexation. On the one hand, my sole desire is now,
as it has ever been, to comply with your wishes, and
VISITS ROME 181
pay you the obedience due to a father. On the other,
as you see, I have already started and am beyond
the borders of the State, and Signor Fabrizio Colonna
and Madonna Agnesina, my honoured sister-in-law,
have engaged a house and made aU the necessary
arrangements for me. And since I have promised to
be at Marino in four days, and Signor Fabrizio is on
his way to meet me, I do not see how I can give up
the journey with honour to my lord and myself, more
especially since everything has been considered and
arranged beforehand by my good lord. Neither will
Your Excellency have any fear for my safety when
you hear that I go to Marino first, and on with
Madonna Agnesina incognito to Rome, there to visit
the churches chosen for this Holy Jubilee, without
making myself known or speaking to any one. In
Rome, we shall be lodged in the house of Cardinal
SaveUi, which is conveniently situated in the midst
of the Colonna quarter, but I intend to return to
Marino as soon as possible and spend most of my
time there. So Your Highness need have no
doubts or fears for my safety, although I confess
that, if I had not already started, I would have
given up my intention, not from any fear of danger
or disturbance, but in order to satisfy Your Excel-
lency. But since I have already got as far as this
on my journey, I am sure this letter will satisfy
you, and I beg and pray you to write to me in Rome
so that I may know that you are satisfied and may
keep the Jubilee with greater content and peace of
mind. Otherwise I shall be in continual distress and
anxiety. I commend myself heartily to your good
graces, and remain your younger sister, Elisabetta." ^
1 F. Gregorovius, op. cit., p. 134.
182 DEATH OF EMILIA PIA'S HUSBAND
The next day Elisabetta continued her journey,
and after spending Holy Week in Rome and visiting
St. Peter's and the Tombs of the Apostles, in strictest
incognito, she returned with her sister-in-law to the
Colonnas' castle of Marino in the Alban hills, and
enjoyed the company of Madonna Agnesina and her
seven-year-old daughter, the Uttle Vittoria, who was
already betrothed to the young Marquis of Pescara.
A fresh sorrow awaited her at Urbino in the death of
her husband's half-brother, Antonio, a valiant soldier
who had fought at Fornovo with Francesco, and
whose wife, Emilia Pia, was her devoted friend and
companion. The Duchess's tender heart was full of
sympathy for the heart-broken widow, and she wrote
to Isabella saying that both she and the Duke were
doing their best to comfort poor Madonna Emilia,
whose grief was enough to move the stones to pity.
Isabella herself wrote in the most affectionate terms
to Emilia Pia, begging her to take comfort, " since
this is a journey on which we all must go," and telling
her that, as she had proved herself the best of wives
in the past, it was now her duty to try and conform
herself to the divine will, in order that her prayers for
her husband's soul might be the more acceptable in
the sight of God.^ Before long Emilia dried her tears
and recovered her old gaiety, but in spite of her
charms and popularity, she never consented to marry
again, and remained faithful to the memory of her
lamented husband.
Early in the following year Isabella visited Fer-
rara and spent some time at her father's court, where
several Latin comedies were acted, including the
"Mercadanti," the "Asinaria," and the "Eunucho."
1 Luzio e RSnier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 1 07.
COMEDIES AT FERRARA 183
" These plays," she remarks in a letter to Mantua, "are
certainly fuU of vain words, and are not without doubt-
ful passages to which some persons might take ob-
jection. AU the same, they are very amusing, and
excite much laughter, chiefly owing to the frequent
changes of voice and excellent performance of these
actors." At her urgent entreaty the Duke agreed to
return with her to Mantua, where the Marquis made
great preparations for some dramatic representations
to be given in his honour. But, at the last moment,
the arrival of papal envoys with important proposals
from the Borgias detained Ercole at Ferrara, and the
carnival fetes at Mantua took place without him.
One of his favourite courtiers, however, Sigismondo
Cantelmo, the husband of Isabella's intimate friend,
Margherita MarosceUo, accompanied the Marchesa
home, and sent the Duke full accounts of the per-
formances in the magnificent theatre prepared for the
occasion in the Castello. His elaborate descriptions
of this building and allusions to the Triumphs of
Mantegna, with which the stage was decorated, lend
especial interest to the following letter : —
"Most excellent Prince, my dear Lord,— The
arrangements made by this illustrious Lord Marquis
have been most splendid, and deserve to be studied
by aU who wish to erect appropriate theatres for the
performance of ancient and modern plays. I do not
doubt that Your Excellency has already heard of the
representations which have been given. None the
less, I should fail in my duty if I did not write to tell
you what, indeed, requires a better scribe than I am —
all the magnificence, grandeur, and excellence of the
said representations, the beauty of which I will try
to describe as briefly as possible. The stage itself
184 THEATRE AT MANTUA
is quadrangular in form, but somewhat extended in
length. Each side has eight arcades, with columns
well proportioned to the size and height of the arches.
The base and capitals of each pillar are richly painted
with the finest colours and adorned with foliage, and
the arches, with their reliefs of flowers, offer an admir-
able perspective, each being about four braccia wide
and proportionately high, the whole representing
an ancient and eternal temple of rare beauty. The
back of the stage was hung with cloth of gold
and foliage, as required for the recitations, and the
sides were adorned by six paintings of the Triumphs
of Caesar by the famous Mantegna. On the two
other and smaller sides of the stage there were
similar arcades, but only six in number. Two sides
of the stage were given up to the actors and reciters ;
on the two others were steps occupied on the one
hand by women, on the other by strangers, trumpeters,
and musicians. At one angle were four very lofty
columns with rounded bases, and between them a
grotto designed with great art, but in the most
natural manner. The roof overhead blazed with
hundreds of lights like shining stars, with an artificial
circle, showing the signs of the zodiac, and in the
centre, the sun and moon moving in their accus-
tomed orbits. Within the recess was a Wheel of
Fortune inscribed with the words. Regno, regnam,
regnabo, and in the midst, the golden goddess,
seated on her throne, bearing a sceptre adorned with
a dolphin. The lowest tier of the stage was hung
with the Triumphs of Petrarch, also painted by
Mantegna, and large golden candelabra hung fi-om
the centre of the roof, each holding three double
rows of torches and a shield with the arms of His
DESCRIBED BY CANTELMO 185
Caesarean Majesty, the black eagle with the royal and
imperial diadem. At the sides of the stage were two
large banners with the arms of His Holiness the Pope
and the Emperor, and smaller ensigns with those
of the Most Christian King and illustrious Signory
of Venice. Between the arches were banners with
the arms of Your Excellency and of the German
prince Dvike Albert of Bavaria, and the devices of
this Signor Marchese and the Signora Marchesana.
Higher up on the walls were busts and statues of
gold, silver, and other metals, which added greatly
to the decorative effect of the whole. Last of all
the roof was hung with sky-blue cloth to imitate
the blue vault of heaven, studded over with the
constellations of our hemisphere.
"The recitations were exceedingly fine and en-
joyable. On Friday 'Philonico' was given, on
Saturday ' II Penulo ' of Plautus, on Sunday the
'Ippolita' of Seneca, on Monday the 'Adelphi'
of Terence. AU of these were admirably recited by
skilled actors, and received the greatest applause
from the spectators. As Monsignore Louis d'Ars,
the son of the illustrious M. de Ligny, is now here,
and had not seen the first play, I hear the ' Philonico '
will probably be given again. If I have forgotten
anything, I hope soon to supply the omission by
word of mouth, when I see Your Excellency, to
whose good graces I C9mmend myself — Your
Excellency's servant and slave, Sigismondo Can-
TELMO." ^ From Mantua, Feb. 13, 1501.
This minute description, obscure as it is in some
places, at least enables us to form some idea of the
1 Campori, Latere artistiche, 1866, and D'Ancona, Ori^ni del
Teatro, vol. ii.
186 BIRTH OF LI VI A
construction of the new theatre and of its splendid
and elaborate decorations, while the presence of the
French visitors, whom the Gonzagas were especially-
anxious to conciliate, showed that the event was not
without political significance.
That autumn Isabella gave birth to a third
daughter, who received the name of Livia, but
died at the age of six. Neither this child nor
Leonora, who was already seven years old, appears
to have interested her mother much, and she seldom
mentions their names in her letters. She was, how-
ever, careful to give them an excellent education,
and first Sigismondo Golfo, then Francesco Vigilio,
taught Leonora Latin and grammar. The Marchesa
chose these teachers herself, and would allow no
carelessness or irregularity. On one occasion, when
Golfo absented himself for some weeks, she sent
him an order to return at once, if he did not wish
to lose his situation. But all her fondest hopes
centred round her little son, Federico. She watched
the growth of this precious infant with the ten-
derest affection, and when the Marquis was absent
from Mantua sent him daUy reports of his little
son. " I am quite well," she writes on the 3rd of
July 1501, "and so is our beautiful boy, who is
always asking for his Pa." Again, on the 7th of
August, the proud mother writes : " To-day our
little boy began to w^lk, and took four steps
without any help ; although, of course, he was care-
fully watched, much to our delight and his own.
His steps were a little uncertain, and he looked
rather like a tipsy man I When I asked him after-
wards if he had any message to send his father, he
CONQUEST OF ROMAGNA 187
said, ' Ti Pa / ' so I must commend him to you as
well as myself."^
Meanwhile political events of grave importance
were taking place in other parts of Italy. The
Pope's daughter, Lucrezia Borgia, after the dis-
solution of her first marriage with Giovanni Sforza,
the widower of -Maddalena Gonzaga, became the
wife of Alfonso, Duke of Bisceglia, an illegitimate
son of IsabeEa's uncle, the late King Alfonso of
Naples, and nephew of the reigning king, Federico.
The union proved a happy one, but the unfortunate
prince was so foolish as to quarrel with Cassar
Borgia, and in July 1500 he was attacked by five
masked assassins as he left the Pope's rooms, and
seriously wounded. " Every one here," wrote Cal-
meta from Rome to Elisabetta Gonzaga, " knows
that this is Duke Valentino's doing." A few weeks
later the wounded man was strangled in his bed in
the Vatican by Caesar's guards before the eyes of his
wife. "The Pope," wrote the Mantuan envoy,
Cattaneo, "is very much displeased at this event,
both on account of the King of Naples, and for
the sake of his daughter, who is in despair." ^
Immediately after this deed, which excited
general horror, Caesar Borgia set out to conquer
Romagna at the head of an army of 7000 men.
First Pesaro, then Rimini, surrendered without a
blow, and Giovanni Sforza fled to Mantua, and
sought refuge in his first wife's home. Francesco
received his brother-in-law kindly, but told him
plainly that he could do nothing against Borgia. In
spite, however, of Isabella's professions of friendship
1 Luzio, Precettori, &c., p. 37.
2 Pastor, " History of the Popes," vi. 613.
188 BY CiESAR BORGIA
for her son's sponsor, she could not conceal her
admiration for the gallant little town of Faenza,
which remained loyal to its prince, Astorre Manfredi,
and alone among the cities of Romagna offered a
determined resistance to the conqueror. On the
20th of April 1501 she wrote to her husband: "I
rejoice to hear that the citizens of Faenza are so
loyal and constant in their lord's defence, and feel
that they have redeemed the honour of Italy.
May God give them grace to persevere ; not that
I wish Duke Valentino any iU, but because neither
this poor Signor nor his faithful subjects deserve
such ruin. I thank Your Excellency for giving me
news of the first battle, of which Messer Carlo da
Sesso also informs you in the enclosed letter, which
I opened in your absence."^ But five days after
this Faenza was forced to surrender, and the brave
young Manfredi was taken captive to Rome, and
strangled in Castell' Sant' Angelo by Caesar's orders.
At the same time Isabella had to lament the ruin
of her mother's family and the downfall of the last
king of the house of Aragon. Federico's doom was
already sealed. In November 1500 a secret treaty
was concluded between Louis XII. of France and
Ferdinand the Catholic, who agreed to divide the
kingdom of Naples between them. In June a large
French army crossed the Alps and marched against
Naples, and a month later Gonsalvo di Cordova
landed in Calabria with a Spanish force. The Pope
ratified the treaty publicly, and Caesar Borgia left his
army in Romagna to join the French before Naples.
After a fiercely contested battle, Gaeta and Naples
opened their gates to the victors, and on the 4th
1 D'Arco, Arch. St. It., App. ii.
MARRIAGE OF ALFONSO D'ESTE 189
Federico fled to Ischia, and abdicated his throne in
favour of the French king. He retired to France,
where a pension and the Duchy of Anjou were
granted him, and where he spent the remaining three
years of his life.
Everywhere Csesar Borgia and his French allies
were triumphant, and no one knew in which direction
their arms would next be turned. The situation was
an anxious one, and Isabella was greatly alarmed to
hear from her father's envoy at Milan that her
husband had incurred the suspicion of the French
Viceroy, Cardinal d'Amboise, by his supposed in-
trigues with the Emperor. One day, when the
Ferrarese ambassador was dining with the Viceroy,
his host suddenly asked him what he thought of
the Marquis of Mantua's plot to drive the French
out of Italy. Then, turning to Trivulzio, the
Cardinal said : " M. le Marechal, what would you do
if you knew that the Signor Marchese kept a spy
here to report all our actions ? " "I should dismiss
his ambassador at once," rephed Trivulzio. And that
same evening the Mantuan representative, Tosabezzi,
received notice to leave Milan.^
Under these circumstances Francesco Gonzaga
saw that his best policy was to cultivate the friend-
ship of Caesar Borgia, and he took care to offer
no opposition to Duke Valentino's latest scheme.
This was the proposal of a marriage between his
sister Lucrezia and the Duke of Ferrara's eldest son,
Alfonso d'Este. A few weeks after the murder
of her second husband, the report of this intended
aUiance was already the common talk of Rome.
"The Pope's daughter," viTote a German pUgrim
1 D'Arco, Arch. St. It., App. ii.
190 WITH LUCREZIA BORGIA
who visited Rome in this year of Jubilee, and was
grievously shocked at these scandals, "lives here in
great state, and is about to marry a third husband,
the first being yet alive. If one does not please her,
she asks for another." In February 1501, when Isa-
bella was spending the carnival at Ferrara, formal
proposals to this effect were made to her father by
the Pope's envoy. At first the proud spirit of the
Este princes recoiled with horror from the thought.
Not only was Lucrezia the Pope's bastard, but her
own character was by no means free from stain.
There might be no grounds for the horrible crimes
which were freely imputed to her in Rome, but the
Ferrarese ambassador reported that she had been
engaged in an intrigue with a papal chamberlain
named Peroto, and had given birth to a <;hild a year
after the dissolution of her first marriage. The bare
idea that a woman against whom such charges could
be brought, should reign in the place of the good
Duchess Leonora, seemed intolerable to the Duke
and his children. At first Alfonso quite declined to
entertain the proposal, and Isabella regarded it with
unqualified disgust, although she was too prudent to
give vent to her feelings in public. But by degrees
this natural repugnance melted away before the
solid advantages of the proposed marriage. The
Pope not only offered to give his daughter the
enormous dowry of 300,000 ducats, but to reduce
the yearly tribute paid by Ferrara as a fief of the
Church from 400,000 ducats to a nominal sum of 60
ducats, and to surrender several important fortresses
and valuable benefices to the Duke. Louis XII.
warmly supported the Pope's proposals, and Ercole
began to realise the substantial benefits which he and
THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT 191
his State would derive from the marriage. When
the Emperor, moved by his invincible hatred for the
Borgias, commanded him as his liege lord to break
off the negotiations, the Duke only returned a civil
answer, and made use of Maximilian's despatch to
secure better terms from the Pope.
Atlength, after prolonged conferences, the marriage
contract was finally signed on the 26th of August,
and Ercole wrote to inform his daughter Isabella of
the fact. On the same day the marriage was publicly
proclaimed in Rome. Both the Pope and Cassar
were exultant, and Lucrezia, who, in spite of her
troubled past, was of a singularly child-like and light-
hearted nature, gave vent to her delight by dancing all
night with so much energy that she was laid up with
an attack of fever the next morning. The Mantuan
agent, Cattaneo, supplied Isabella with abundant
details of the preparations that were made for the
wedding during the next few weeks.
" The dowry," he wrote on the 13th of December,
"wiU consist of 300,000 ducats, counting the value
of the presents which this Madonna will receive.
First of all, 100,000 ducats will be paid down in gold
at Ferrara ; then she will have clothes, plate, jewels,
fine linen, costly hangings and trappings for horses
and mules representing another 200,000 ducats. Her
trousseau wiU contain no less than 200 camoras, each
of which will be worth 100 ducats, with sleeves
and gold fringes valued at 30 ducats apiece. One
robe alone is valued at 20,000 ducats, and a jewelled
hat is said to have cost 10,000 ducats, while in Rome
and Naples more gold has been employed in pre-
paring her outfit during the last few weeks than is
generally required in two years."
192 FERRARESE ENVOYS IN ROME
On the 23rd of December, Alfonso d'Este'sbrothers,
Don Ferrante and Cardinal Ippolito, arrived in Rome
with a brilliant suite to solemnise the marriage, and
escort the bride to Ferrara. Lucrezia, clad in white
and gold brocade, with pearls and rubies in her hair,
received the two princes on the steps of the Vatican,
and Caesar led them into the palace, while the Pope
looked on from a balcony, and greeted his guests with
eifusion. He conversed freely with the Ferrarese
envoys, saying that he meant Lucrezia to have more
beautiful pearls than any other princess, and praised
her beauty and goodness, comparing her to the
Marchesana of Mantua and the Duchess of Urbino.
But in spite of these assurances we see how deep
was the distrust which the Borgias inspired and how
anxious Duke Ercole felt with regard to Lucrezia's
own character by the following letter which his
confidential agent, Gian Luca Pozzi, wrote on the
evening of his arrival in Rome : —
" To-day, after supper, Girardo and I waited oil
the most illustrious Madonna Lucrezia, in the name
of Your Excellency and Don Alfonso. We con-
versed together on many subjects, and in all she said
we found her very sensible, discreet, of good and
loving nature, and sincerely attached both to Your
Excellency and Don Alfonso, so that I confidently
believe Don Alfonso will find real comfort in her
society. Besides which, she is singularly graceful in all
her actions, and her manners are fuU of modesty and
decorum. She is a good Christian, fillled with the
fear of God, and is going to confess to-morrow, and
to communicate on the Feast of the Nativity of Our
Lord. She has a sufficient share of good looks, and
her pleasing expression and graceful manners make
IL PRETE'S REPORT 193
her seem more beautiful than she really is. In
short, her qualities are such that I am sure there is
nothing to fear from her, but rather everything to
hope for. Your Highness may rest assured that,
bound as I feel to speak the truth without prejudice,
I tell you this with great joy and consolation." ^
The bride made the same excellent impression on
// Prete, that faithful servant of Niccolo da Correggio,
whom Isabella, in her anxiety to receive full particu-
lars of the marriage, had sent to Rome in her brother's
suite. This admirable chronicler described the
wedding ceremony and fetes, the dresses and jewels
of the chief personages, and the bride's dowry and
trousseau, with a fulness and exactness which, as
Gregorovius remarked, are worthy of a Times reporter.
He was especially careful to obey the Marchesa's
wishes, by giving a minute description of Lucre-
zia's appearance and character. " She is a charm-
ing and very graceful lady," he wrote after the
first interview. " I can teU you that our Cardinal's
eyes sparkled at the sight of her."
On the 29th of December, he wrote again to Isa-
bella : " This noble Madonna is seldom seen in public,
being occupied in preparation for her departure. But
on Sunday, the Feast of St. Stephen, I went to see
her later in the evening, and found her sitting near
the bed with ten maids -of- honour, and twenty
other ladies wearing handkerchiefs on their heads
after the Roman fashion. They soon began to
dance, and Madonna danced very gracefully and
well with Don Ferrante. She wore a camora of
black velvet trimmed with gold fringe, with narrow
sleeves slashed to show her white linen chemise, a
1 F. Gregorovius, "Lucrezia Borgia," p. 189.
VOL. I. N
194 WEDDING OF LUCREZIA BORGIA
vest of black velvet richly embroidered in colours,
a gold-striped veil and a green silk cap with a ruby
clasp on her head. Her maids-of-honour have not
yet got their wedding dresses. Our own ladies are
quite their equals in looks and in everything else.
But two or three of them are decidedly graceful.
One from Valencia dances well ; another, called
Angela, is very charming. Without her knowledge
I have chosen her for my mistress! Yesterday the
Cardinal and Don Ferrante rode through the town
with the Duke, all wearing masks." ^
The wedding was celebrated on the 30th of
December, in the CappeUa Paolina, before the Pope,
who sat on his throne, attended by thirteen Cardinals
and the foreign Ambassadors, only the Emperor's
representative being conspicuous by his absence.
The bride was magnificently attired in a robe of
gold brocade, with flowing sleeves that trailed on
the floor. Her train of crimson velvet, trimmed
with ermine, was borne by ten maids-of-honour.
Her golden hair was tied back with a black ribbon,
and she wore a gold net over her hair, and a string
of pearls with a pendant of large emeralds, pearls,
and rubies round her neck. The Duke of Ferrara's
mandate was read aloud, the Bishop of Adria de-
livered an address which was shortened by the Pope's
orders, Ferrante placed the ring on the bride's finger
in his brother's name, and she replied in a clear voice
that she received it of her own free choice. Then
Cardinal Ippolito presented her with Duke Ercole's
present, a gorgeous casket of jewels, valued at 70,000
ducats, filled with precious gems, rings, necklaces,
and the famous pearl necklace which, Isabella re-
1 F. GregoroviuSj op. cit., p. 194, &c.
fI:TES in ROME 195
membered with a sigh, had belonged to her dearly
loved mother. The Pope was delighted, and ex-
claimed as he took the jewels in his hands that the
young Cardinal's charm of manner doubled the value
of the jewels. But Duke Ercole had been careful
to insert a proviso in the contract stipulating that the
jewels were to be returned, and only the wedding
ring kept by Lucrezia if the marriage were afterwards
dissolved.
Cardinal Ippohto then presented the bride with
his own gift of four jewelled crucifixes, and the other
Cardinals followed with their gifts, after which the
whole company witnessed a succession of races and
jousts on the Piazza before the Vatican. Steel
weapons were used, and as many as six noble youths
were wounded, reports II Prete. " Then Cgesar,"
he goes on, " took the Madonna's hand and danced
before the Pope with rare grace, and the maids-of-
honour followed and danced very weU in couples.
His Holiness was in high spirits, and laughed all the
time. This lasted over an hour. Then the comedies
began. One was in Latin verse, and a shepherd and
children were introduced, and looked very fine, but I
could not understand its meaning. After that the
company dispersed, and only His Holiness, the bride,
and her brother and brothers-in-law sat down to the
wedding feast at the Pope's table."
Isabella's correspondent gave her detailed accounts
of the week's festivities that followed, of the comedies
and ballets, the masquerades and dancing, the recita-
tion of epithalamiuras and marriage hymns, the bull-
fights organised by Caesar Borgia, and the torchlight
processions in which Lucrezia took part.^ At length,
1 Gregorovius, op. cit., pp. 200-217.
196 JOURNEY OF THE BRIDE
on the 6th of January, the wedding party set out for
Ferrara, escorted by a cavalcade of Roman horsemen.
The bride was attended by a suite of 180 persons, and
Angela Borgia, that damigella elegantissima who had
fascinated // Prete at first sight, was her chief lady-
in-waiting. By the Pope's command the bride was
received with royal honours at Terni, Spoleto, Fohgno,
and each place where a halt was made. At Gubbio
Duchess Elisabetta herself came to meet her, and
Duke Guidobaldo, who had strong reason to distrust
Csesar Borgia, no doubt felt it prudent to give his
sister a splendid reception at Urbino. Elisabetta her-
self accompanied the bride over the mountain passes
to Pesaro, where Lucrezia was lodged in the very
palace which she had occupied for some years as the
wife of Giovanni Sforza. At Imola, the party rested
for a whole day in order that the bride might set her
jewels and clothes in order for her entry into Ferrara,
and wash her head. This, Ferrante d'Este explained
in a letter to his father, she had been unable to do for
ten days, owing to which she suffered severely from
headaches. Some days were spent at Bologna, where
a banquet was given by the Bentivoglios in her
honour, after which the party embarked on bucen-
taurs, and travelled by water first along a canal, and
then up the river Po as far as Castell Bentivoglio, a
town about twenty miles from Ferrara. Here the
bride was surprised to see Don Alfonso, who had
ridden out in disguise to meet her, and spent two
hours in her company to her great delight. She
wrote that night to tell her father of the prince's
courtesy, which gratified the old Pope highly. The
next day he sent for the Ferrarese envoy to express
his satisfaction, and spoke with genuine affection of
TO FERRARA 197
Lucrezia, saying repeatedly : " I have done great
things for her, and I mean to do more." As the
Venetian ambassador, Paolo Capello, remarked :
" The advancement of his children is the only thing
that he seems to care about." ^
1 M. Sanuto, Diarii, iii. 847.
CHAPTER XII
1502
Isabella presides at Lucrezia Borgia's marriage festivities — Recep-
tion of the bride at Ferrara — Isabella's letters to her husband
— Conaedies, balls, and fetes — The ambassadors' gifts— Isa-
bella entertains the French ambassador — Her interview with
the Venetian envoys — Return to Mantua — Lucrezia Borgia's
life at Ferrara — Her relations with Isabella and the Marquis.
While Elisabetta Gonzaga was escorting Lucrezia
Borgia on her journey through Central Italy, Isabella
d'Este came to Ferrara at her father's request, to
receive her brother's bride. Her own letters to
Francesco give full descriptions of the wedding
festivities, which were on a splendid scale and are
said to have cost Duke Ercole 25,000 ducats. On
the 29th of January, two days after her arrival,
Isabella wrote : —
" My dearest Lord, — My father came to my room
after dinner to-day and arranged the order of the
bride's entry, which is to be as follows. On Tuesday,
I shall accompany Don Alfonso with only a few
ladies in a barge as far as Malalbergo to meet her,
after which she will sleep at my lord Alberto d'Este's
house at Casale, and I shall return home with the
Duchess of Urbino, who however must go back on
Wednesday to keep the bride company. Madonna
Lucrezia Bentivoglio with half of these ladies will go
to meet her and follow her in the procession, whUe I
remain here with the other half to receive her at the
steps of the Palace. It is true that I mean to go and
198
ISABELLA AT FERRARA 199
see the entry from the Custom-house, but as soon as
the procession has passed by, I shall return to the
Palace. After making these arrangements, my
father took me to see the hall where the comedies
are to be acted, which is 146 feet long by 46 wide.
Steps have been made from the Piazza with a parti-
tion to divide the men from the women, who will be
in the centre, with the men on either side ; the ceUing
and steps are hung with green, red, and white
draperies. On the opposite side of the hall is a
wooden stage about the height of a man, with battle-
ments, and the scenery for the comedies, which are
to be six in number. About 5000 persons are
expected, but the seats will be reserved for strangers,
and any that remain will be given to Ferrarese gentle-
men. Five shields with coats of arms hang from the
roof — those of the Church, of France, Este, and Borgia,
and the black and white eagle which was our old coat
of arms. I saw nothing else worthy of note. The
wooden beams of the roof are left bare, but perhaps
these are to be draped later. I will tell you what
more is to be seen on the day itself. All these
gentlemen are busy preparing sumptuous dresses and
gold chains, but the attire of the women will be
splendid beyond words ! I have not left the house
these two days, owing to the number of visitors
which I have had. To-night we go to the house of
M. Ercole Strozzi. I am sending 500 oysters by the
sailors who take back the barge, and I hope Your
Excellency will enjoy them for love of me. Kiss my
darhng boy a thousand times over! — Your wife,
Isabella." ^ Ferrara, Jan. 29, 1502.
1 This and the following letters from Ferrara were pubhshed
by D'Arco in Arch. St. It, App. ii. See also F. Gregorovius,
" Lucrezia Borgia."
200 RECEPTION OF THE BRIDE
On the 1st of February, the Marchesa described
her first meeting with the bride : " Soon after eight
o'clock I entered Don Alfonso's barge together with
Don Giulio (her half-brother) and nay own gentlemen
and ladies. At Torre della Fossa I changed boats
and went on to Malalbergo, where we met the bride
in a ship with Don Ferrante and Don Sigismondo and
a few others, and here I found the Duchess of Urbino
with them. The boat came alongside, and one bark
having curtsied to the other with joyous haste, I
entered the bride's with Madonna Laura (Giovanni
Gonzaga's wife), and after exchanging salutes we went
on our way and she did not enter the smaU bucentaur
for fear of losing time. About four o'clock we
reached Torre della Fossa, where my father was
standing on the shore awaiting us. The archers in
their red and white hveries, seventy-five in number,
were drawn up in a row, and the whole court gathered
round the Duke, who took Madonna Lucrezia by
the hand and kissed her, after she had insisted on
first kissing his hand. Then we entered the large
bucentaur, where all the ambassadors shook hands
with us, and we sat down in the following order:
the bride between the French and Venetian, myself
between the Venetian and Florentine, and the Duchess
of Urbino between the Florentine and Sienese, the
Lucchese envoy being close by. My father and
Don Alfonso sat on deck above, talking and joking
together, and were much amused by the Spanish
clowns, who paid the bride all manner of compli-
ments, and so, amid great cheering and shouting
and the sound of trumpets and guns, we reached
Casale about five. After accompanying the bride
to her rooms we all left, and I took the Duchess of
COSTUMES OF THE PRINCESSES 201
Urbino in my carretta to her lodgings, which are
those of Ventimiglia above the loggia. I will not
describe Madonna Lucrezia's appearance, as you have
seen her. She wore a vest of wrought gold trimmed
with crimson satin, with slashed sleeves in Castilian
fashion, a crimson satin mantle, turned back on one
side and lined with sable, open at the throat to show
a frilled chemise, in the usual fashion. On her neck
she wore a string of big pearls, with a pendant of
ruby and a pear-shaped pearl, and a gold coif on
her head, but no band. Madonna Luerezia Benti-
vogho received her on the shores of the Po with a
great company of ladies. Madonna Teodora was
presented to her by Don Alfonso's seneschal as
chief lady-in-waiting, together with twelve Ferrarese
maidens wearing camoras of crimson satin, and black
velvet mantles lined with black lamb. The gentle-
men of her household have not yet been chosen.
Five carriages were sent to meet her — one hung
with gold brocade, and led by four white horses,
each worth fifty ducats apiece ; one covered with
red velvet, led by roan horses, all very fine ; and
three hung with purple satin, with horses of different
colours. I have not mentioned Don Alfonso, be-
cause, as I told Your Excellency before, he went
last night to Bentivoglio, returned to Ferrara this
morning, and joined my father at Torre della Fossa.
The Duchess of Urbino is very well and lively,
and commends herself to Your Excellency with me,
and I beg you to kiss the dear child of our love.
— Your wife, Isabella."
On this occasion the Duchess of Urbino wore
black velvet embroidered with a gold pattern, while
Isabella herself was attired in a black velvet robe
202 LUCREZIA'S APPEARANCE
trimmed with lynx fur, with a green velvet vest
studded over with gold plaques — a gift from Fran-
cesco — a gold circlet on her head, and a gold
collar set with diamonds round her neck. Her
beauty and distinguished air attracted general ad-
miration, as the Marchesa di Cotrone, who accom-
panied her to Ferrara, wrote that evening to the
Marquis.
" The bride is not beautiful, but sweet and attrac-
tive in appearance, and although she had many ladies
with her, and among them that illustrious Madonna,
the Duchess of Urbino, who is very handsome and a
worthy sister of Your Excellency, yet my illustrious
lady was universally pronounced, both by our people
and by those who came with the Duchess, to be by
far the most beautiful, so much so that if the bride
had foreseen this, she would have made her entry by
torchlight ! There can be no doubt of this, since
others are as nothing at my lady's side. So we
shall bear the prize back to the home of my own
Madonna." '
On the following day the Duke and his son rode out
to meet the bride at Casale, and escorted her across
the bridge of Castel Tedaldo, and through the town
to the ducal palace. The pageant is described by
contemporaries as the grandest ever seen in Ferrara.
" I will tell you the order of this illustrious bride's
entry," writes Isabella, " and whatever else is worth
noting, as best I can. First of all came my father's
seventy-five archers in white and red liveries, with
three captains in different costumes, then eighty
trumpeters, among them six of the Duke of
Romagna's, wearing cloth of gold, and purple and
1 D'Arco, op. cit.
ENTRY OF THE BRIDE 203
white satin uniforms, and twenty-four pipers and
trumpeters. Behind them came the nobles and gentle-
men of Ferrara, of whom seventy wore golden chains,
none of which cost less than 500 ducats, while many
were worth 800, 1000, and even 1200 ducats. Then
followed the Duchess of Urbino's suite, all in black
velvet and satin, and after them Signor Don Alfonso
and M. Annibale Bentivoglio. His Highness rode a
big bay horse with purple velvet trappings embossed
with gold. He wore a suit of grey velvet covered
with scales of beaten gold, worth at least 6000 ducats,
a black velvet cap trimmed with gold lace and white
feathers, and grey leather gaiters. Eight squires
walked behind him, four men and four boys, in
French suits of gold brocade and purple velvet, with
hose of red and purple cloth. Then came the bride's
suite, twenty of whom were Spaniards clad in black
and gold, but only twelve of the whole company
wore gold chains, and these not at all large ones or
equal to those worn by my gentlemen. These were
followed by the Bishops of Adria, Comachio, Cervia,
and two others sent by the Pope. Then came the
ambassadors, walking two abreast — a Lucchese and
a Sienese together, the other Sienese with a Floren-
tine, and so on, the two Venetians wearing long
crimson satin mantles ; last of aU the four Roman
ambassadors in long cloth-of-gold mantles lined with
crimson satin. Behind them were six drummers
and two Spanish jesters in brocade of variegated
colours. Then the bride, under a crimson baldacchino
carried by the doctors. In front of her was a big
dapple-grey horse, given her by the Duke, with
crimson trappings embroidered with gold, led by
eight grooms in purple and yellow vests and hose."
204 STATE PROCESSION
The Venetian chronicler^ informs us that, as the
bride rode over the bridge of Castel Tedaldo, her horse
took fright at the guns, and would have thrown her
if her groom had not rushed to her help, and placed
her on a mule. Isabella continues : " The bride
was mounted on a roan mule with velvet trappings
covered with gold lace, and fastened with nails of
beaten gold. She wore a cloth of gold camora with
purple satin stripes and flowing sleeves after the
French fashion, and a shernia of wrought gold, open
on one side, and lined with ermine, as were her
sleeves. Round her throat was the necklace of
rubies and diamonds which belonged to Madonna of
Ferrara, of blessed memory ! On her head was the
jewelled cap which my lord father sent together with
the necklace to her in Rome, without any band.
Six of Don Alfonso's chamberlains, aU wearing fine
gold chains, held the reins. The French ambassador
rode at her side, outside the baldacchino."
The bride, according to another account, sent
for the French envoy, PhiUppo Bert, when the
procession started, and made him ride at her side,
as a token of the Pope's gratitude to the King of
France for bringing about the marriage.
" Behind the bride, the Duchess of Urbino and
my lord father ; the Duchess on the right on a roan
mule, with black and gold velvet trappings, wearing
a black velvet robe adorned with certain triangles of
beaten gold which are astrological signs, a string of
pearls at her throat, and a gold coif on her head. My
Lord Duke rode a roan horse, with black velvet and
a suit of purple velvet, and was followed by two
ladies, Donna Hieronima Borgia and the wife of
1 Marino Sanuto, Diarii, iv. 222-230.
ISABELLA RECEIVES THE BRIDE 205
Fabio Orsini, both in black velvet ; and behind them,
Madonna Adriana, a widowed relative of the Pope.
These were the only women on horseback. Madonna
Lucrezia Bentivoglio rode in a chariot hung with
gold brocade, followed by twelve other chariots, bear-
ing the bride's ladies and her own Ferrarese and
Bolognese ladies. Behind them came two sumpter-
mules, with black and silver trappings, elaborately
worked, and fifty-six more with red and yellow clothing,
and twelve with purple and yeUow. A few arches,
as I told Your Excellency, were erected at certain
points along the route, and there were some represen-
tations which are not worth mentioning, and no one
paid much attention to them."
At five o'clock the procession reached the Piazza,
where two rope-dancers descended simultaneously
from opposite towers, and at the same moment the
doors of the dungeons were thrown open and all the
prisoners released. On the steps of the ducal palace,
the Marchesa, magnificently arrayed in a camora of
cloth of gold, embroidered with her favourite device
of musical notes and rests, received the bride, and
conducted her to the Sala Grande, followed by the
Duke and the whole company. In this noble hall,
hung with Leonora's priceless tapestries, two Ferrara
poets, Celio Calcagnini, the friend of Raphael and
Erasmus, and Ariosto, recited a Latin Epithalamium
in the bride's honour, and hailed Lucrezia as pul-
cherrima Virgo — a title which may well have sounded
ironical in the ears of the bystanders, when applied to
one whom the Romans had derisively called "the
Pope's daughter, wife, and daughter-in-law."
The following day was spent in dancing and
acting, and in the evening Isabella took up her pen
206 COMEDIES AND BALLS
and wrote : " To give Your Excellency an account
of to-day's doings : After dinner we brought the
bride out of her rooms, and led her into the Sala
Grande, which was so crowded with people that there
was no room to dance. However, we got through two
dances as best we could." Cagnolo, who had come
to Ferrara in the French ambassador's suite, tells us
that Lucrezia came down from the tribunal, where
she was seated between Isabella and Elisabetta, and
danced Roman and Spanish dances, to the sound of
tambourines, with rare grace. He adds that although
she is not regularly beautiful, her golden hair and the
dazzling whiteness of her skin, together with her
gentleness and winning manners, render her most
attractive. " She is very gay and light-hearted, and
is always laughing." ^
Then the acting began. " My father," continues
Isabella, "brought in all the actors, and showed
us the costumes which have been prepared for the
five comedies, to show us that the dresses had
been made on purpose, and that those which were
worn in one comedy would not have to be used
again. There are in all one hundred and ten
actors, men and women, and their clothes are of
cendale (a fine silk) and camlet. The leader of the
troop appeared in the character of Plautus, and ex-
plained the argument of the five plays, the ' Epidico,'
the ' Bacchid^e,' the ' Miles gloriosus,' the ' Asinaria,'
and ' Cassaria.' After this we passed into another
hall, and about six o'clock the first play began.
Neither the verses nor the voices struck me as very
good, but the Moresche dances between the acts
were very weU danced, with great spirit. . . . The
1 Zambotto, Cronaca.
ISABELLA'S ENNUI 207
last was danced by Moors with lighted torches in
their hands, and was a fine sight. It was not over
tUl past ten, and then every one went home to
supper." The Marchesa evidently found these pro-
longed festivities very tedious, and at the end of this
letter she adds a postscript in which her real feelings
are expressed.
"I will not deny that Your Excellency, in my
eyes, enjoys far greater pleasure in being able to see
my httle son every day, than I find in these f§tes.
If they were the finest in the world, they would not
please me without Your Excellency and our little
boy. But I will not believe that he has forgotten
me already. If he does not remember me out of
affection, he must remember me if only because he is
kissed so often ! So I hope Your Excellency will be
sure to kiss him a few more times for love of me !
Don Alfonso and the bride slept together last night,
but we did not pay them the usual morning visit,
because, to say the truth, this is a very cold wedding !
I hope that my person and suite compare favourably
with those of others who are here, and we shall at
least carry off the prize of the card-playing, since
Spagnoli has already robbed the Jew of 500 gold
pieces. To-day we are to dance till four o'clock, and
then see another comedy. — Your wife, Isabella."
Feb. 3.
On the 4th, the bride did not leave her room tiU
late in the day, and the Duke took his chief guests to
see the sights of Ferrara— the treasures of art con-
tained in the Castello and the Schifanoia palaces, the
guns in which his son AKonso took especial interest,
and the holy Dominican nun, Sister Lucia of Viterbo,
208 HER IMPATIENCE TO RETURN HOME
who had received the stigmata, and whose wounds
were said to bleed afresh every Friday.
" Yesterday," wrote Isabella on Saturday the 5th,
"we all stayed in our rooms till five o'clock, because
Madonna Lucrezia chooses to spend aU these hours
in dressing, so that she may outshine the Duchess of
Urbino and myself in the eyes of the world, and
being Friday, there was no dancing. At half-past
five the ' Bacchidfe ' began, and was so long and tire-
some, with so few dances, that I wished myself many
times at Mantua. It seems a thousand years till
my return, both because of my longing to see Your
Excellency and my little son, and of my wish to
escape from here, where I do not find the least
enjoyment. Your Excellency need not envy me
for being at this wedding, which is a cold and duU
affair ! I only wish I had stayed at home. If I
had time to write to you more fully, I should be less
bored. But, as soon as I am out of bed, my brothers
come in and do not leave my side aU day. Besides
which all the ladies come and visit me, since Donna
Lucrezia is not to be seen until she appears in the
Sala. We sup about eleven o'clock and go to bed
at one or two. You may imagine how little I enjoy
all this. Pity me ! Last night only two dances
were introduced in the play, and at the end we
heard nothing but groans and complaints from the
spectators, who had already sat there more than four
and a half hours. Nothing else is worth saying, only
I beg you not to forget to kiss Federico for me.—
Your wife, Isabella.
" p,S. — I must tell you that to my credit I am
always the first to be up and dressed ! " February 5,
1502.
THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR 209
Lucrezia spent that day in her room, washing her
head and writing letters to tell her father of the
splendid fetes which had been given in her honour.
And Sanuto inft5I*ns us that she privately presented
Duke Ercole with the pontifical bull releasing the
fief of Ferrara from the payment of tribute. In
the evening Isabella invited Monseigneur Bert, the
French ambassador, to supper in her rooms, and
placed him between the Duchess of Urbino and
herself at table. The conversation, Cagnolo tells
us, was witty and brilliant. The Marchesa looked
her lovehest in a robe of white and silver tabi, and at
the urgent entreaty of her guests, consented to sing
to them after supper, accompanying herself on the
lute, to the delight of all who were present. After-
wards she took the ambassador into her private
rooms and discussed political affairs confidentially
with him for nearly an hour, in the presence of two
of her ladies. Finally she took off her own perfumed
gloves and presented them to Monseigneur Bert,
who received them with the deepest reverence and
gratitude, saying that he counted them even more
precious than the sacred linen bestowed on him by
Suor Lucia, and would keep them in a reliquary to
the end of his days.
On Sunday the whole court attended high mass
in the Duomo, and Don Alfonso was solemnly in-
vested with a consecrated cap and sword, presented
by the Pope to his dear son. Another baU was given
in the Sala Grande, at which Isabella looked radiant
in a gown of crimson satin and black velvet, trimmed
with massive gold cord, and ruby and pearl buttons ;
and the bride, who appeared in a violet robe patterned
over with gold fish-scales, and a jewelled coronet on
VOL. I. o
210 COMEDIES AND JOUSTS
her head, danced French country dances with great
charm and spirit. After this came a performance of
the " Miles gloriosus," ending with a true mummers'
dance of the rudest description, in which shepherds,
wearing rams' heads, fought and butted each other
with their horns to the infinite amusement of the
spectators.
On Monday a new diversion was provided for
the guests, in the form of a single combat which
took place on the Piazza in front of the ducal palace,
between Vincenzo da Imola, a soldier in the Marquis
of Mantua's service, and a Bolognese gentleman of
Annibale Bentivoglio's suite. After a desperate en-,
counter with lances and clubs, Vincenzo succeeded
in unhorsing his adversary, and would have slain him
if the Duke had not divided the combatants. " Vin-
cenzo remained on horseback," writes Isabella, " and
rode round the enclosure amidst infinite shouting, all
the people crying Turco ! while the poor Bolognese
showed his broken staff! So we bore off the palm."
In the evening the "Asinaria " was performed with
a marvellous interlude of satyrs, who danced to the
tune of a musical clock, and chased wild beasts and
birds over the stage. Then a Mantuan musician played
three lutes at once, and the whole performance ended
with a ballet of the harvest, in which the different
operations of digging, ploughing, sowing, reaping and
thrashing the corn were represented to the rustic
music of bagpipes. Isabella appeared in a gown of
crimson velvet, striped with gold bands, and a tiara of
immense diamonds on her head, while the bride wore
a robe of woven gold, and a long chain of priceless
gems round her neck.
On Shrove-Tuesday, which was the last day of
GIFTS TO THE BRIDAL PAIR 211
the carnival, the ambassadors visited the bride's
chamber, and presented her with costly gifts. First
of all, Duke Ercole gave his daughter-in-law his
own magnificent jewels. Then the French ambas-
sador presented the bride with a rosary of golden
beads, perfumed with musk, and her chief maid-of-
honour, Angela Borgia, with a precious chain. At
the same time he gave the Duke a golden shield
with an enamelled figure of St. Francis, made in
Paris, and Don Alfonso a similar shield, bearing an
image of the Magdalene, no doubt, remarks Cagnolo,
because he had taken to himself a bride who in virtues
and charms resembled this saintly maiden, and of
whom it might be said, as it was of Mary Magdalene,
" to her much is forgiven, because she loved much ! "
The other ambassadors followed with gifts of
rich brocades and bronze and silver ewers and bowls,
but the most remarkable presentation was made by
the Venetian envoys, who took off the magnificent
crimson velvet and ermine mantles which they had
worn all the week, and laid them at the feet of the
bride — " upon which," wrote the Marchesa di Cotrone
to Francesco Gonzaga, " every one who was present
burst out laughing."
A ball took place afterwards, at which the royal
ladies appeared in their most gorgeous costumes, and
Isabella wore a violet velvet robe embroidered with
gold acorns, and a magnificent jewelled tiara. The
last comedy, the " Cassaria," was performed with a
series of elaborate musical interludes and recitations in
honour of the happy pair. Don Alfonso, who was
an accomplished musician, played the viol, and took
part in a concerto for six instruments, and at the
close of the last ballet — a war-dance of Swiss
212 A ROPE-DANCER
soldiers — a golden ball melted away in the air and re-
vealed the forms of four Virtues, who sang a delicious
quartette. But the musical part of the entertainment
was decidedly superior to the comedy, which Isabella
declared to be " lascivious and immoral beyond words,"
so much so that she refused to allow any of her ladies
to be present.
The next morning, being Ash Wednesday, was
spent by Isabella in religious exercises with her
family. But in the afternoon, by way of relaxation,
she was present with the whole court at a performance
given by a youth named Cingano, who anticipated
Blondin by walking on a rope from the roof of the
bishop's palace to the Sala Grande in the ducal palace.
The Duke's son and the royal ladies, as well as all the
foreign envoys, came out to witness the feats of this
performer, who danced with his eyes bhndfolded,
walked backwards in a steel cuirass, and was seen
hanging by his feet to the rope suspended in mid-air
above the square, to the infinite amusement of the
august company.-^ That evening the Marchesa re-
ceived farewell visits from the foreign ambassadors,
and made use of this opportunity to ingratiate herself
and her husband with the Signory of Venice, as we
learn from the following letter, which her secretary
Capilupi addressed to the Marquis : —
" My dear Lord, — To-day my Madonna and the
Duchess were in the bride's room when the Venetian
ambassador came to take leave of her, and at the
same time pay their respects to Her Excellency and
the Duchess of Urbino. But they first of aU ad-
dressed my Madonna, in a long speech, saying that
the Signory had charged them to call upon Your
1 Muratori, Diario Ferrarese, vol. xxiv. 404.
THE VENETIAN AMBASSADORS 213
Highness if you had been at the wedding, and that
since you were not present, they wished to pay the
same honour to the Marchesa, because of the services
rendered by Your Excellency to their State, whose
loyal son they count you to be, and on whose good
offices you may always depend. Madonna then took
up her speech and answered them in a clear voice,
with as much elegance and prudence as if she had
been a consummate orator. I am quite unable to
write down all that she said, but I must tell you
one thing which every one thought very wise and
admirable. ' If this illustrious Signory,' she re-
marked, ' had made trial of Your Excellency in your
youth, and had employed you in the defence of Italy
at that time, now that you are older and more ex-
perienced, they might avail themselves of your
services with more advantage.' These and other
appropriate words amazed the ambassadors and others
present so much that they all confessed themselves
her slaves. The ambassadors then turned to the
Duchess of Urbino, and in their words plainly showed
that they honoured her in the first place as Your
Excellency's sister, and in the second as the Duke
of Urbino's wife, and she also replied discreetly.
Last of all Donna Lucrezia spoke, but although she
has had more husbands than either your wife or
sister, she could not attain by a long way to the
wisdom of their answers. Your Excellency will
rejoice to learn what an excellent impression Madonna
your wife has made on all these lords and am-
bassadors. Her disgust and displeasure at the foul
comedy of yesterday was evident to all, so that the
Duke had good cause to be ashamed ; her conduct
was only praised, since, as Your Highness knows.
214 LUCREZIA BORGIA
she would not allow any of her maidens to be
present. — Your faithful servant, Benedictus Capi-
I.UPUS." ^ Ferrara, Feb. 9, 1502.
The next day Isabella took leave of her relatives,
and, accompanied by the Duchess of Urbino, re-
turned to Mantua, where she arrived on Monday
the 14th, and joyfully embraced her little Federico
once more. A few days afterwards she addressed a
courteous note to Lucrezia, announcing her safe
arrival and signing herself " Your loving sister." ^
Lucrezia on her part was unfeignedly anxious to
cultivate Isabella's friendship. In a letter which
Laura Bentivoglio addressed to the Marchesa a few
months afterwards, from Ferrara, she described a
visit which she had paid to Alfonso's wife, in the
following terms : —
" She made me sit down, and asked with charming
sweetness after Your Excellency, begging to hear
about your clothes, and especially about your head-
dresses. Afterwards, in speaking of her Spanish
robes, she said if she had anything that you would
care to see or possess, she would gladly oblige you,
being most anxious to please Your Excellency.
And she expressed a wish that you would write to
her sometimes and be more familiar in your inter-
course with her, and asked repeatedly if the betrothal
of Duke Valentino's daughter with your son had
been arranged. To-day she wore a camora of black
satin and gold foliage, with a hem that looked like
a flame of pure gold, and flowing sleeves, such as
Your Excellency wears, and a necklace of the finest
pearls. Her head was dressed in her usual fashion,
1 Luzio, Precettori, p. 36.
^ F. Gregorovius, " Lucrezia Borgia," App.
HER RELATIONS WITH ISABELLA 215
with a very bright emerald on her forehead and a
green velvet cap wrought with beaten gold. Her
manners and gestures were most natural and quite
charming, and she looked very pretty, but has grown
rather thinner, although she is not ill."
Lucrezia always showed great curiosity about
the Marchesa's clothes, and on one occasion, Lucre-
zia d'Este, who visited her while she was under-
going a cure, wrote as follows to Isabella : " I
found her lying on the bed wearing a black silk
robe with tight sleeves and frills at the wrist, and
after many caresses and affectionate greetings, she
inquired what were the latest Mantuan fashions and
praised my head-dress. I promised to make some
caps in our style, and send them to her. Certain
rosettes which I wore on my forehead also pleased
her, and she begged me to show them to a jeweller
and have them copied for her." ^
But, in spite of mutual compliments and fine
speeches, the two ladies were never on intimate terms,
and Dr. Luzio points out that most of the letters
from the Gonzaga archives quoted by Lucrezia's
biographer Gregorovius were in reality addressed to
the Marquis and not to Isabella.^ In later years
some rivalry arose between the two princesses, and
Isabella could not forgive her old friends, Niccolo
da Correggio and Ercole Strozzi, for transferring
their devotion and dedicating their poems to her
sister-in-law. Lucrezia, however, proved an excellent
wife to Alfonso, by whom she was fondly beloved,
and who sincerely lamented her early death in 1519.
She bore him four children, the eldest of whom,
1 Luzio in A'^. Antologia, 1896.
2 Luzio, Precettori, p. 37.
216 HER CONDUCT AT FERRARA
Ercole, was born in 1508, and succeeded his father as
Duke in 1534. Her conduct during the latter years
of her life was exemplary, and she edified the people
of Ferrara by the charitable institutions which she
founded, and spent much of her time in Duchess
Leonora's favourite convent of Corpus Domini.
CHAPTER XIII
1502
Isabella's visit to Venice — Her letters to the Marquis— Courtesy
of the Doge and Signory — Her income and expenditure —
Proposed marriage between Federico Gonzaga and Csesar
Borgia's daughter — Elisabetta of Urbino goes with Isabella
to Porto — Caesar Borgia seizes Urbino — Flight of Duke
Guidobaldo to Mantua — Isabella asks for the Venus and
Cupid of Urbino — Caesar Borgia sends them to Mantua —
Michel Angelo's Cupid sold to Charles I. and brought to
England.
As soon as Isabella had recovered from the fatigues
of the wedding festivities at Ferrara she began to
make plans for a new expedition. The Duchess of
Urbino had never seen Venice, and a vow which
Isabella had made to the Santo at Padua aiforded
a good excuse for paying a second visit to the
famous city. This time the two princesses decided
to go in the strictest incognito, in order that they
might be able to dispense with tedious ceremonies,
and devote themselves wholly to sight-seeing and
their own amusement. So they set out one morning
in March, taking only two ladies with them — the
Marchesa di Cotrone and the faithful Emilia Pia —
and escorted by the Protonotario Sigismondo Gon-
zaga and two of Isabella's most trusted servants,
her seneschal Alessandro da Baesso and her secretary
Benedetto Capilupi. The Marquis accompanied his
wife and sister as far as Sermide, where they took
217
218 VISIT TO VENICE
boat to the mouth of the Po, and spent the night at
a wretched hostelry at Stellata. As usual, Isabella
gave her husband a full account of her doings in a
letter from Venice, where she arrived on the 14th of
March.^
" My dear Lord, — Yesterday morning we left ' la
Stellata' so early that we reached Chiozza an hour
after dark, but since the hostelries were all full we
had to send Benedetto Capilupi to inform the
Podesta of our arrival, which we did the more
readily, hearing that he was M. Alvise Capello,
brother to M. Paolo, and a great friend of Your
Excellency ; and although we begged him to direct
us to some private lodging near the inns, he insisted
on receiving us in his own house in the kindest
manner possible, and, above all, allowed us to remain
strictly incognito. So we accepted his invitation,
and were honourably lodged and entertained at
supper in the palace. That night we were too tired
and travel-stained to see His Magnificence, but this
morning he visited us and regretted that he had not
been aware of our coming, so as to pay us greater
honour, as the Signory would have wished, and
begged us to dine with him. We replied that we
were on our way to discharge a vow at Padua, but
had come through Venice, as the Duchess had never
seen this city, and that since we were in travelling
dress we should not have made ourselves known to
him, only that he was a friend of Your Excellency,
and, we felt sure, could be trusted to keep our
secret ; to which he replied that we had done well,
and that the moment he heard of our arrival he had
1 This and the five following letters in the Archivio Gonsaga
were published by Dr. LuziOj Mantova e Urbino, 307-315.
THE SIGHTS OF VENICE 219
sent word to the Signory, but we begged that on no
account should we be received and pubUcly enter-
tained by them. So we came on here quietly this
evening, and are lodged in the house of M. Niccolo
Trevisano, which is occupied by the Duke of Urbino's
ambassador. We found Franceschino Trevisano
in the house, and hear from him that aU Venice
knows of our arrival, and that Your Excellency's
friends are delighted. We aU three commend our-
selves to you, and I beg you to kiss my boy.
To-morrow I will send some fish and oysters. I
thank Your Excellency for allowing me to come
here, and am enjoying Venice much more than I did
last time, and think the city far more beautiful.
The Duchess owns that it is more marvellous than
Rome, and wonders at the sight, and is lost in
admiration, and kisses Your Excellency's hand. —
With the right hand of your wife, Isabella."
Venice, March 14, 1502.
The next day she resumed her tale : —
" I was sure Your Excellency would be vexed to
hear of the discomforts that we endured at the
Stellata, but I hope you will understand that mine
were not serious, and that I have spirit enough to
put up with such trifling inconvenience, although, of
course, we should have been more comfortable if we
had stayed with Your Excellency at Sermide. The
only disadvantage would have been that we could not
have reached Chiozza that evening, where, although
we arrived unexpectedly, we were very honourably
entertained by M. Alvise Capello at his expense, as I
told you before. Yesterday we stopped at Ponia to
see those big ships, and went on board a very large
one which is being built and is said to be three thou-
220 THE CAMPANILE
sand tons and more. This morning we went to hear
mass at Sta. Maria dei Miracoh, and then to S.
Giovanni e Paolo and the Scuola di S. Marco, and
returned home by another way. Directly after
dinner we went to S. Marco, hoping to find very few
people at that hour, but we were mistaken, as there
were a good many, and then, so as not to leave any-
thing undone and to see this marvellous city well, we
climbed the Campanile of S. Marco, where we
greatly enjoyed the beautiful view and examined the
noble buildings on all sides. When we descended,
we returned by boat and went to S. Giorgio and to
the Misericordia, and came home by the Grand
Canal. As yet I have seen none of our friends,
except Genua, who shook hands with me in the
Campanile, and this evening he called at our lodgings
to see if we required an5rthing. Monsignore and
I spoke to Francesco directly about the jewels.
Monsignore pretended that he had found a friend
who would lend him 3000 ducats before Your
Excellency heard of this, in order to conduct the
transaction the more secretly with regard to the 2000
ducats which the Albani wiU pay. We have sent for
the Jew, and Monsignore and I wiU do our utmost to
settle this business. The Duchess is anxious to see
the Doge and Signory, who will not appear till the
procession of Olives on Sunday, so we have settled to
stay here over that day, although I, having seen them
already, do not care about it, but I must do this for
her sake. On Monday we shall be at Padua,
Tuesday at Vicenza, Wednesday at Verona, and so
as not to travel on Holy Thursday or Friday, we will
spend these two days there and make our com-
munions. On Saturday we shall be at Mantua, and I
COURTESY OF THE DOGE 221
pray you to give a hundred kisses to my darling boy,
so that when I am there he will not think it strange
to be kissed." Since the Doge had invited the
Marchesa to visit the CoUegio, as she had done
before, Isabella sent Capilupi and Baesso to make her
excuses and those of the Duchess to the Prince and
Signory, and explain that they were travelling
incognito, and had no clothes in which they could
appear. The Doge returned a courteous answer, and
gave orders that the Treasury of S. Marco and the
Arsenal should both be shown to the distinguished
visitors.
" Meanwhile," writes Isabella, " we went to hear
mass at Ca' Grande, and afterwards landed at the
Rialto and walked through the Fish-market and the
Merceria to the columns of S. Marco. There were
such crowds of people that it was difficult to make
our way, but we enjoyed it so much that we did
not mind the walk, and Monsignore was the most
tired of the party. The Duchess is as well as pos-
sible. At the columns we took a boat and came
home, where we found a secretary from the Signoria
waiting to tell us that four gentlemen were coming to
visit us on the part of the Doge and Senate. We
begged him to dispense with this ceremony, but we
had hardly finished dinner before they were here.
The Duchess and Monsignore and I met them on
the stairs and led them into the room, and I replied
to their compliments, laying stress on the love and
devotion of Your Excellency for this illustrious
Signory. When they were gone M. Alvise MarceUo
appeared, having cleverly delayed his visit till theirs
was over, and spent some time in friendly conversa-
tion. He seems as much devoted to you as ever.
222 GIFTS FROM THE SIGNORY
M. Filippo Capello also called and talked in the same
familiar way with Monsignore and me. Then we
went to the ' Vergine,' where we enjoyed seeing the
nuns' rooms and hearing two of them sing, but owing
to the new regulations lately introduced by Frate
Raphael da Varese, who is preaching in S. Marco
this Lent, no men are allowed to enter the convent.
On our return home we found Alvise Marcello, who
told Monsignore that he had got the order to view the
Treasury to-morrow morning and the Arsenal after
dinner. We commend ourselves to you, and so does
M. Alvise a thousand times. I enclose the names of
the gentlemen, begging you to kiss our little son for
me: M. Alvise Moncenigo, M. Zoanne Gabriele,
M. Pietro Justiniano, M. Alvise Mohno." Venice,
March 16.
The next day Messer Alvise called early with a
present of fish and confectionery from the Signory,'
valued, Sanuto tells us, at twenty-five ducats. This
gift included four large chests of fish of different
kinds, eight large gilt marzipane cakes, twenty-nine
boxes of sweetmeats, four pots of ginger and four of
syrup of violets, as well as twenty pounds of wax
candles. Isabella sent these presents by messenger to
Mantua that evening, begging the Marquis to accept
them for her sake. She added a postscript to the
effect that the Pope's ambassador had informed the
Duchess how warmly the Doge had spoken of their
august visitors in the College, saying that the Duke
and Marquis could give no better proof of their con-
fidence in the Signory than by sending those persons
who were dearest to them to Venice. " And all our
friends here say the same thing."
1 Sanuto, Diarii, iv. 234.
ST. MARK'S 223
After this the Marchesa proceeded to give her
husband the following account of their day : —
" We went to mass at the Carita, and on to
S. Marco, where the Pala and Treasury were shown
us by Messer Paolo Barbo, the procurator. Then we
were taken to the Great Hall of the Council, and to
the Armoury of the Doge's Palace, after which we
went on foot by the Merceria, which were prepared
for us, as far as the Rialto, where we took boat and
came home to dinner. Afterwards we went to the
Arsenal, which our friend Messer Alvise Marcello
showed us with the greatest care and kindness, and
Messer Carlo Valerio and Paolo Capello came to
shake hands. When we had seen all, M. Alvise
took us into the house which he occupies close by, as
Treasurer, and entertained us in the usual manner.
M. Alvise and M. Paolo Capello came with us in the
boat to S. Antonio, where we saw the Sepulchre, and
on our way home we called on our neighbour, the
Queen of Cyprus, who had invited us to visit her.
These gentlemen escorted us home, and so the day
ends, and if Your Excellency considers the length of
the journey, and all we have seen and done, you will
count us to be the most gallant ladies in the world ! "
Venice, March 17, 1502.
The two princesses had certainly made good use
of their short visit, and Isabella was delighted with
all that she had seen and done. We do not hear if
she saw her friends Lorenzo da Pavia and Aldo
Manuzio, or the painter Giovanni BeUini, who had
excited her displeasure by his long delays in exe-
cuting the picture for her Grotta. But it was Alvise
Marcello to whom she applied two years later to help
her in the matter, and the other patricians are fre-
224 RETURN TO MANTUA
quently mentioned in her correspondence. Queen
Caterina Cornaro was an old friend of the Este prin-
cesses, whom Isabella had already visited in her
mountain home of Asolo, and to whom she wrote
after her return to Mantua, thanking her for the
affection and kindness which she had shown her.
On the morning of the 21st, the ladies left Venice,
and by evening reached Padua, where they were
entertained by Count AchiUes Borromeo, and Isa-
bella found time to inform her husband that the
French ambassadors were expected at Padua on their
way to Venice, having been abruptly dismissed by
the Emperor. Maximilian had refused to grant
Louis XII. the investiture of Milan and the incor-
poration of the duchy in the kingdom of France,
while the French monarch on his part declined either
to release Lodovico Sforza or to allow the exiled
partisans of the Sforzas to return to Milan. " Until
the present time," she adds, " the King of France has
taken little count of the Venetians, but now he is
most anxious to secure their friendship." And she
ends with expressing her delight in the good news
which her husband gives her of Federico, whose
company she longs to share, but hopes to make up
for lost time on her return. After spending the last
days of Holy Week in the house of Count Canossa
at Verona, and receiving a gift of fish from the
cavaKer Giorgio Cornaro, in the name of the Signory
of Venice, Isabella and her sister-in-law reached
Mantua on Easter Eve, and the happy mother once
more clasped her precious boy in her arms.
A week afterwards, Francesco left home to attend
some races in the neighbourhood, and Isabella's letters
as usual were fuU of fond allusions to the child's
FEDERICO'S INFANT CHARMS 225
cleverness and charms. "The boy always seemed
intelligent," she writes on the 4th April, " but since
Your Excellency's departure, he surprises me every
hour with his pretty ways, and seems determined to
keep me amused in your absence. He sits in your
place at meals, and plays a thousand other tricks,
which I do not teU Your Excellency lest I should
excite your envy." Again, two days later, she wrote :
" Yesterday, when I was saying my office, he came
in and said he wanted to find his papa, and turned
over all the cards till he found a figure with a beard,
upon which he was delighted, and kissed it six times
over, saying, ' Papa hello ! ' with the greatest joy
possible," ^
Another and less pleasant task to which Isabella
now turned her attention was the settlement of her
accounts. The expenses of her visit to Ferrara had
been heavy ; besides the cost of her own sumptuous
toilette, and those of her ladies, presents of costly
brocade and chains had to be given to the actors
and buffijons, the trumpeters and musicians. Marino
Sanuto teUs us that on this occasion the Marchesa
had shown remarkable liberality to all of these, but
especially to the Spanish jesters in the bride's train.^
At Venice, as we have seen, she had been engaged
in raising fresh loans to pay the Albani and redeem her
jewels ; and soon after her return to Mantua she ad-
dressed a letter to her father, Duke Ercole,to whom she
had more than once applied for help in her difficulties.
This time, however, she gave him a full statement of
her income and expenditure, which is of great in-
terest, and shows that if this brilliant lady occasionally
1 Luzio, Precettori, p. 38.
2 Dia7ii, iv. 230.
VOL. I. P
226 ISABELLA'S EXPENSES
erred on the side of extravagance^ she was a prudent
and clever manager, who made the most of her
money, and had a shrewd eye to business.
" My honoured Lord and Father, — When I first
entered this illustrious house I was given a yearly
allowance of 6000 gold ducats, to pay for my clothes
and provide dowries for my maidens, and all that is
necessary for my servants — including two gentlemen ;
the Court supplying the food of about a hundred
persons. Afterwards, in' order that I might be free
to increase or diminish my household, my illustrious
consort gladly agreed, by the advice of his stewards,
to take this burden from off their shoulders, and give
me another 2000 ducats for the expenses of my whole
company. Of this income 6000 was charged on the
toll of the mUls, 1000 on an excise duty, and the other
1000 on the lands of Letopalidano, near Gonzaga. So
you see that in all I have 8000 ducats a year. It is
true that by my own economy, and that of my servants,
the income of this estate has been increased by about
1000 ducats, with which I have been enabled to buy
some neighbouring lands ; so that at present the rent
brings in about 2500 ducats a year. But I also have
to feed about fifty more persons of my household.
And it is true that my lord has given me other houses
for my pleasure, such, for instance, as Sacchetta and
Porto ; but their income does not exceed their ex-
penses, and sometimes I have to spend more money
to keep them in repair. This is all I can tell Your
Excellency for your satisfaction."
By this statement it is clear that Isabella enjoyed
a yearly income of from 8000 to 9000 ducats — no
inconsiderable sum, if we consider that the ducat
was worth about eleven and a half francs — or, roughly
ALLIANCE WITH THE BORGIAS 227
speaking, nearly ten shillings — and that money has
increased five times in value since those days.^ But
considering the large demands upon her purse, and
her passion for pictures and antiques, as well as fine
clothes and jew^els, it is decidedly to her credit that
she was able to keep out of debt, and could often raise
money to help her husband in bad times or sudden
emergencies. The question of the Cardinal's hat for
her brother-in-law, Sigismondo, was now once more
raised. But this time it was complicated with another
scheme. This was nothing less than the betrothal of
Isabella's two-year-old son, Federico, to the infant
daughter of Ceesar Borgia and Charlotte d'Albret.
The proposal was first made by Duke Valentino.
Early in June 1502 he addressed a charming letter to
Isabella, expressing his joy at the prospect of this
fresh link between them, and during the next few
months this marriage was the object of constant
negotiation. Both parties were equally wary.
Francesco stipulated that his brother should be
raised to the Cardinalate at once, while Borgia,
on his part, demanded substantial pledges for
the consummation of the marriage in future years.
But flattering as were the terms in which the Duke
expressed his delight at the prospect of the union
between his family and the Gonzagas, both the
Marquis and Isabella looked upon his proposals
with deep distrust. Their suspicions were not
removed by the events which took place in the
course of the following summer. About the 20th
of June Isabella and her sister-in-law went to Porto
with a few chosen ladies, and little Federico, be-
cause, as his mother said, she could not be happy
1 See A. Luzio in Nuova Antologia, 1896.
228 C^SAR BORGIA SURPRISES URBINO
without him. While they were enjoying the fresh
breezes and delicious gardens of this charming
country-house, the most terrible and unexpected
news reached them from Urbino.
" We were here," wrote Isabella on the 27th of
June to her sister-in-law, Chiara de Montpensier,
" very quiet and contented, enjoying the company
of the Duchess of Urbino, who has been with us
since carnival, and often wishing that you were here
to complete our happiness, when news of the unex-
pected and perfidious seizure of the duchy of Urbino
reached us. The Duke himself arrived here with
only four horsemen, having been suddenly surprised
and treacherously attacked, so that he narrowly
escaped with his life. We were quite stunned by the
blow, and are stiU. so bewildered and unhappy that
we hardly know where we are, as Your Excellency
will understand ; and so great is my compassion for
the Duchess that I could wish I had never known
her." 1
On the 13th of June, the day after Caesar Borgia
addressed his affectionate letter to Isabella rejoicing
over the proposed marriage of their children, he left
Rome at the head of a large army, and marched
through the district of Spoleto, laying the whole
country waste, and spreading terror wherever he
came. Before his departure he sent friendly mes-
sages to Duke Guidobaldo, asking him to aUow
his troops to march through the territory of Urbino,
and begging for the help of some artiUery in his ex-
pedition against the Varani of Camerino. But when
he reached Spoleto, instead of marching against
Camerino as had been expected, he suddenly turned
1 Luzio, Maniova e Urbino, p. 125.
FLIGHT OF GUIDOBALDO 229
up the rocky defile of the Furlo Pass, and marched
along the great Flaminian Way, and through
the vaUey of the Metaurus towards Urbino. On
the 20th of June, the Duke, " supposing himself to
be in perfect security,"^ had ridden out to sup in
the orange gardens of the Zoccolanti convent, a
favourite sanctuary of the Dukes of Urbino, where
Piero della Francesca had painted his fine altar-
piece, now in the Brera. Here, in the shady groves
on the outskirts of the convent garden, he was en-
joying the beauty of the summer evening, when a mes-
senger arrived in hot haste from Cagli to say that Duke
Valentino was outside the city, marching on Urbino
at the head of 2000 men. It was too late to think
of resistance. Caesar's mercenaries were advancing
in every direction. Already the passes of the Apen-
nines were guarded, and a price had been set upon
the Duke's head. Guidobaldo's only hope of safety
lay in flight, and, yielding to the entreaties of his
servants, he fled for his hfe, taking with him his
young nephew, Francesco della Rovere. After many
adventures and narrow escapes, the fugitives suc-
ceeded in reaching Mantua safely. "I have saved
nothing but my life, my doublet, and my shirt,"
wrote Guidobaldo on the 28th of June to his kins-
man. Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, in a long letter
giving a vivid description of his midnight flight,
and of the false promise with which Borgia had
deceived him. " Such ingratitude and treachery," he
adds, "were never before known." ^ Even Lucrezia
was appalhd at her brother's action, and told the
1 Dennistoun, " Dukes of Urbino," vol. ii. p. 325, &c.
2 Alvisi, " C^sar Borgia " ; Dennistoun, " Dukes of Urbino,"
vol. i. p. 391 ; Yriarte, "Caesar Borgia," vol. u.
230 MICHEL ANGELO'S CUPID
prete of Correggio that she was miserable when she
remembered how kindly the Duchess of Urbino had
treated her, and would not have had this happen for
all the world.
At sunrise on the 21st of June, the Duke of
Romagna, as Caesar now styled himself, entered
Urbino, and, clad in a splendid suit of armour, in-
stalled himself on the ducal throne in the ancient
palace of the Montefeltri. No resistance was pos-
sible, and the few loyal subjects who dared oppose the
victor were stabbed or thrown into prison. During
the next few weeks a long train of mules was
seen descending the steep hiUside, laden with the
priceless tapestries and statues, the paintings and
treasures of gold and silver plate, which were the
pride of the ducal house. Sanuto reckons the value
of the booty carried off by Duke Valentino on this
occasion at 150,000 ducats, or nearly half a million
of our present money.
In the general grief and consternation at Mantua,
Isabella did not lose sight of her own interests. She
remembered a wonderful torso of Venus, and a Cupid
of almost equal beauty, which she had seen and ad-
mired in her brother-in-law's collection, and wrote off
without delay to Rome, begging her brother, Cardinal
Ippolito d'Este, to secure these rare statues, if pos-
sible, for her Grotta. Her letter was written on
the 30th of June, only three days after Guidobaldo
reached Mantua.
"Most Reverend Father in God, my dear and
honoured Brother, — The Lord Duke of Urbino, my
brother-in-law, had in his house a small Venus of
antique marble, and also a Cupid, which were given
him some time ago by His Excellency the Duke of
ISABELLA'S REQUEST 231
Romagna. I feel certain that these things must
have fallen into the said Duke's hands, together
with aU the contents of the palace of Urbino, in the
present revolution. And since I am very anxious to
collect antiques for the decoration of my studio, I
desire exceedingly to possess these statues, w^hich
does not seem to me impossible, since I hear that
His Excellency has little taste for antiquities, and
would accordingly be the more ready to oblige
others. But as I am not sufficiently intimate with
him to venture to ask this favour at his hands, I
think it best to avail myself of your most revered
Signoria's good offices, and pray you of your kind-
ness to ask him for the said Venus and Cupid, both
by messenger and letter, in so effectual a manner
that both you and I may obtain satisfaction. I am
quite willing, if it so please Your Reverence, that you
should mention my name and say that I have; asked
for them very urgently, and sent an express courier,
as I do now, for, believe me, I could receive no
greater pleasure or favour either from His Excel-
lency or from your most dear and reverend Signoria,
to whom I commend myself affectionately. — Your
sister, Isabella, Marchioness of Mantua." ^ Mantua,
June 30, 1502.
The letter, in its frank, straightforward tone, is
highly characteristic of the writer. Even at this
critical moment, when her heart is wrung with sorrow
for the poor Duke, who has fled to Mantua in his
shirt-sleeves, and the beloved Duchess, Isabella does
not hesitate to seek a favour at the hands of the
treacherous prince who had caused their ruin. It is
true, she will not stoop to ask this favour of Valentino
1 GayCj Carteggio d'Artisti, vol. ii. 53.
232 C^SAR SENDS THE STATUES
in person ; she has no domestichezza with him, and is
not on sufficiently famihar terms with him for that.
But she is none the less ready to make use of his
connection with her own family in order to attain her
object and gratify her passion for rare antiques. The
Cardinal, who was in high favour at the Vatican
since Lucrezia's wedding, complied with his sister's
request without delay, and Ceesar Borgia hastened to
gratify the fancy of the illustrious Madonna, whose
goodwill he was especially anxious to gain. Within
the next few weeks, the Duke of Romagna's chamber-
lain, bringing with him a mule laden with marbles,
arrived at Mantua; and on the 22nd of July, the
Marchesa told her husband joyfully that the precious
statues were safe in her Grotta.
" Yesterday, the muleteer arrived safely with the
Venus and Cupid which Duke Valentino has sent here,
and his chamberlain, Messer Francesco, presented
them to me." And after begging Francesco, who
had gone to meet the French king at Milan, to take
steps for recovering the Duchess of Urbino's dowry,
she adds the following postscript : " I do not write of
the beauty of the Venus, because I believe Your
Excellency has seen it, but for a modern thing the
Cupid has no equal." ^
This Cupid, which justly excited the accomphsbed
Marchesa's admiration, was not, as she apparently
knew, a genuine antique, but the work of a young
Florentine sculptor, Michel Angelo Buonarroti, whose
fame was already great in Rome. In those early days,
when Savonarola's sermons were shaking the heart of
Florence, the youth of twenty carved a Sleeping
Cupid with quiver and torch at his side, which was
1 Alvisi, " Caesar Borgia," p. 537.
TO MANTUA 233
so like a Greek marble that a dealer took it to Rome
and sold it to Cardinal Riario as an antique. The
Cardinal found out the fraud and returned the Cupid
to the dealer, but invited the sculptor to Rome.
Michel Angelo, indignant at the fraud which had been
practised in his name, sought out the dealer and
demanded him to restore his Cupid ; but the agent
laughed him to scorn, and soon found another pur-
chaser in the Pope's son, who, wishing to conciUate
the Duke of Urbino, presented him with this Cupid
and an antique torso of Venus. Guidobaldo, it seems,
set great store on this Cupid, and when, towards the
close of 1503, he had recovered his dominions, he told
Cattaneo, the Mantuan agent at the Papal court, that
he wished the Marchesa would restore his statue. But
Isabella rephed with her usual readiness that, glad as
she was to hear that the Duke was recovering his scat-
tered treasures, she must remind him that he had
given her permission to ask Borgia for the Cupid ;
and, to prove her case, sent Cattaneo Guidoba,ldo's
own letter on the subject. After this there was
nothing left for the Duke but to beg the Marchesa
to keep the statue and to assure her that his person
and property were altogether at her disposal.^ So the
Cupid remained in the famous Grotta, where it is
mentioned in the inventory of 1542, as the work of
Michelagnolo fiorentino.
De Thou, who visited the Castello in 1573,
praised the statue highly, and in June 1630, Charles
the First's agent, Daniel Nys, mentions it together
with the Cupids of Praxiteles and Sansovino as the
rarest objects in the ducal collection. There seems little
doubt that this Cupid, which Michel Angelo carved,
1 Luzio in Arch. St. Lomb., 1886.
234 THE LOST CUPID
and which had so strange a story, and both Guido-
baldo and Isabella valued so highly, came to England
in 1632, with the rest of the Mantuan art-treasures,
and for a while adorned the palace of Whitehall or
the halls of Hampton Court. But nothing is known
of its fate in after years, and it probably disappeared
with so many other rare and precious things at the
sale of Charles the First's collections.
CHAPTER XIV
1502—1503
Louis XII. at Milan — He receives the exiled princes and the
Marquis of Mantua — Caesar Borgia arrives at Milan and con-
cludes an agreement with the king — Isabella's warnings to
her husband — The Duke and Duchess of Urbino forced to
leave Mantua and take shelter at Venice — Francesco Gon-
zaga goes to France — Isabella governs Mantua — Her nego-
tiations with Borgia regarding her son's marriage — Caesar's
campaign in Romagna — Treacherous murder of Vitellozzo and
his companions — Isabella sends Valentino a present of masks
— Death of the Pope and sudden revolution in Rome —
Return of Duke Guidobaldo to Urbino — Election of Pope
Pius III.
All the victims of Csesar Borgia's high-handed pohcy,
and all those who looked with alarm at his rapid
success, now turned to the French king for help.
Early in July, Louis XII. crossed the Alps to make
preparations for war against the Spanish forces, who,
under Gonsalvo di Cordova, had attacked his troops
in Naples. On the 28th he entered Milan, bringing
with him Federico of Aragon, the ex-king of Naples,
and attended by the Duke of Ferrara and the Mar-
quis of Mantua, who had joined him a week before
at Vigevano. Here, too, came the unfortunate Duke
of Urbino and Giovanni Sforza to plead their cause
against Valentino. Louis received the exiled princes
with fair promises, and Francesco Gonzaga was be-
ginning to talk loudly of avenging their wrongs,
when Csesar Borgia himself appeared suddenly on
236
236 ISABELLA'S FEARS
the scene. " This inscrutable Duke," as Machiavelli
calls him, " who hardly ever speaks, but always acts,"
left his victorious army in Umbria, and after paying
a flying visit to his sister Lucrezia, who had given
birth to a dead child and was lying dangerously ill
at Ferrara, reached Milan on the 7th of August.
His coming changed the face of affairs and destroyed
Ehsabetta Gonzaga's last hopes. He accompanied
the king to Genoa on the 26th, and did not take
leave of him until Louis had promised him his sup-
port in completing the conquest of Central Italy in
return for his help against the Spaniards in Naples.
AU this while Isabella was going through agonies
of fear and suspense. The imprudent words which
her husband had spoken in public against Valentino
had filled her with alarm for his safety, and she im-
plored him repeatedly in her letters to be more care-
ful in future, and, above all, to take every precaution
against poison, knowing the unscrupulous nature of
the Duke and the crimes which he had already
committed.
" I cannot conceal my fears for your person and
State," she writes on the 23rd of July, only the day
after she had received Borgia's gift of the Venus
and Cupid. " It is generally believed that His
Most Christian Majesty has some understanding with
Valentino, so I beg of you to be careful not to use
words which may be repeated to him, because in
these days we do not know who is to be trusted.^
. . . There is a report here — whether it has come
from Milan by letter or word of mouth, I do not
know — that Your Excellency has spoken angry words
against Valentino before the Most Christian King
1 D'Arco, Notizie d' Isabella, p. 59.
FOR HER LORD'S SAFETY 237
and the Pope's servants, and whether this is true or
not, they will doubtless reach the ears of Valentino,
who, having already shown that he does not scruple
to conspire against those of his own blood, will, I
am certain, not hesitate to plot against your person.
And being jealous for your hfe, which I count dearer
than my own, and knowing how your natural good-
ness leads you to take no precautions for your safety,
I have made inquiries of Antonio da Bologna and
others, and hear from them that you allow all manner
of persons to serve you at table, and that Alessandro
da Baesso eats with you, leaving grooms and pages
to do the offices of carvers and cupbearers. So that
I see it would be perfectly easy for any one to poison
Your Excellency, since you have neither guards nor
proper servants. I pray and implore you therefore,
if you will not take care for your own sake, to be
more careful for my sake and that of our little son,
and I hope that you will in future order Alessandro to
discharge his office of carver with the greatest caution.
If he cannot do this, I wiU send Antonio or some
other trustworthy servant, because I had rather run
the risk of making you angry than that both I and
our httle one should be left to weep for you."
She added the following postscript in her own
writing : " My dearest lord, do not laugh at my fears
and say that women are cowards and always afraid,
because their mahgnity is far greater than my fears
and your own courage. I would have written all
this letter with my own hand, but the heat is so
great we are nearly dead. The boy is very well and
sends you a kiss. — Isabella, who longs to see Your
Highness." ^
1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 137.
238 CiESAR BORGIA AT MILAN
At the same time Isabella wrote to her old friend,
Niccolo da Correggio, who had also gone to meet
King Louis, begging him to acquaint her with all
that was happening at Milan.
On the 8th of August, Niccolo, ever loyal to her
wishes, wrote to tell her of Caesar Borgia's unexpected
arrival, and of the affectionate way in which the
King had welcomed him : —
" To obey your orders I must tell you that last
night Duke Valentino arrived here on horseback.
I cannot tell you with what warm demonstrations of
friendship His Christian Majesty welcomed him.
He was returning from the house of Messer Trivulzio,
when he met the Lord Duke arriving from the
Porta Romana, and, embracing him with great joy,
he led him to the Castello, and lodged him in the room
nearest to his ovsti. He himself ordered the Duke's
supper, choosing certain favourite dishes, and he
visited him three or four times in the course of the
evening, even when he had put on his night-shirt
and was about to go to bed ! He ordered seneschals
and servants for the said Duke, and begged him to
wear his own shirts and clothes, saying that he is not
to ask any one else for what he needs, but make
use of the king's wardrobe, carriages and horses, as
if they were his own. Only think. His Majesty
went so far as to propose that a litter for the
camp, to suit the Duke's taste, should be provided.
In fact, he could not do more for a son or brother.
Yesterday, being Sunday, His Christian Majesty
went to mass at San Stefano, where Duke Galeazzo
was murdered, and afterwards dined in the house of
your illustrious father, the Duke of Ferrara, which is
now occupied by Messer Teodoro di Trivulzio, and
FAVOUR OF LOUIS XII. 239
went to a dance at the house of Francesco Ber-
nardino Visconti, and after supper he went to see
some more dancing in the house of Bishop Pallavicini
outside the Porta Lenza, and the Lord Duke accom-
panied His Majesty on horseback, and did not return
to the Castello until past nine. I did not go to the
festa, but hear that Ippolito was at the Bishop's
house. This morning the king is gone to dine at
Binasco, where he remains to-night, and goes on to
supper at Pavia to-morrow. The illustrious Lord
Duke, your father, will also go to Pavia, starting
three or four hours earlier. His Christian Majesty
goes on to Genoa, not, as was said at first, to Parma,
since he is returning to France sooner than was
expected. I do not know what else to tell Your
Highness of public matters, for it is rash to pro-
nounce any judgment in these times. But the
Signor Marchese will soon return, and will tell you
more of these caresses between the Duke and the
king." ^
This letter confirmed Isabella's worst fears. She
used aU her influence to induce her husband to pay
court to the dreaded Valentino. As a further pre-
caution, she induced him to write a letter expressing
his friendly sentiments for the Duke, which she could
show to the chamberlain who had just presented her
with the two antiques. Her fears, as it turned out,
were not unfounded, for Sanuto reports that Francesco
pubhcly denounced Cassar Borgia as a bastard and a
priest's son, and that Valentino, on arriving at Milan,
openly challenged him to fight. During mass the
next day the Marquis told the Venetian envoy that
he would fight the Duke single-handed with sword
1 Luzio, " Niccolo da Correggio," in Giom. St. d. Lett., xxi. p. 240.
240 THE EXILED PRINCES
and dagger, and boasted that he would dehver Italy.
King Louis, however, succeeded in reconciling the
two princes, and when he returned to France they
parted good friends. In a conversation which Borgia
had at Genoa with the Mantuan treasurer, Ghivizzano,
he laid stress on his friendly feelings for his lord, and
on the Pope's esteem for both Francesco and his
wife, but insisted that if the Marquis wished to
remain his ally, he must not keep the exiled Duke
at his court. Accordingly, on the 9th of September,
both the Duke and Duchess of Urbino left Mantua,
Elisabetta declaring that her husband would be
exposed to greater peril without her, and that she
would never leave him, were they to die in an
hospital. Fortunately they found shelter at Venice,
which, Sanuto remarks, becahie the refuge and resort
of all the princes whom Duke Valentino had expelled,
and were hospitably received by the Signory, who
gave them a pension and a house at Canareggio.'
But poor Elisabetta was reduced to the greatest
straits for want of money. At one time she even
entertained the idea of entering the service of the
Queen of France, Anne de Bretagne, who, in the
kindness of her heart, had sent the unhappy Duchess
generous offers of help. But she could not make up
her mind to leave her husband, while no power on
earth would induce her to accept Valentino's offer of
a liberal pension if she would consent to the dissolu-
tion of her marriage, and Guidobaldo would agree to
renounce his patrimony and become a priest.
In these melancholy circumstances Isabella showed
the same tender affection and sympathy for her un-
fortunate relatives. She ventured to ask Duke
1 Diarii, iv. 329, 701.
ELISABETTA AT VENICE 241
Valentino for the recovery of Emilia Pia's property,
and sent her trusted seneschal Alessandro da Baesso
and other members of her household constantly to
and fro with letters and presents to Elisabetta. On
the 5th of October she wrote as follows : —
" My dear and honoured Sister, — The good news of
your safe arrival at Venice, and of the kind reception
which you have had both in public and private, re-
joiced my heart, and I thank you warmly for your
letters. I could not answer before, because I had no
messenger to send, but now that Alessandro is going
to you, I would not put off writing any longer. You
will hear from him that my lord and aU of us are
weU, excepting Leonora, who still has fever. We
have weaned Federico, who after the first night and
day has got over it easily. My lord starts to-morrow
for France as arranged. Your Highness may think
how sad I am without your conversation, but I hope
you will console me by writing constantly, and I will
do the same, and commend myself to you as well as
to the illustrious Lord Duke and Madonna Emilia." ^
But when, a few days after this, Guidobaldo,
responding to the call of his old subjects, made a
desperate attempt to recover his throne, the Marquis
turned a deaf ear to his sister's entreaties, and refused
to lift a hand against his ally, Duke Valentino. As
might have been expected, his gallant effort proved
fruitless, and the love of his people availed little
against the might of Borgia. Guidobaldo was forced
to fly from Urbino a second time, but fell danger-
ously ill at Citta di Castello. It was not until the
end of January that he succeeded in escaping to
Venice. During some weeks Elisabetta remained
1 Luzio, Mantova e Urbino, p. 145.
VOL. I. ft
242 THE MARQUIS IN FRANCE
ignorant of his fate, and Sigismondo Gonzaga, who
hastened to Venice and tried to comfort her, gave
Isabella a piteous account of her sorrow and anxiety.
Meanwhile, Francesco Gonzaga had started for
France on the 6th of October, as Isabella informed
the Duchess, on the invitation of King Louis, who
wished to consult him on Italian affairs and hoped to
secure his help against the Spaniards. He had pro-
mised his wife that he would be at home for Christ-
mas, and Isabella's letters show how eagerly his
return was expected.
" After I sent my last letter," she writes on the
2nd of December, " Federico wished to have supper
with me, which he did with the most charming grace
in the world, and afterwards, as he was at play with
ten gold ducats before him, I made some one knock
at the door and pretend that a poor beggar was
asking for alms. Upon which he took up a ducat at
once, and without any prompting, desired the money
to be given him, saying : ' Tell him to pray to God
for me and also for my Pa.' This dehghted all who
were present. I hope this childish inspiration wiU
have the effect of soon bringing you home, where
your presence is eagerly desired." ^
But Louis XII. insisted on taking the Marquis
to spend Christmas in his chateau at Loches, and
eventually kept him at his court until the end of
January. Both the King and Queen treated Fran-
cesco with marked courtesy, and Anne of Brittany
renewed an offer which she had formerly made to
educate his daughter Leonora at her court and marry
her to a prince of the blood-royal. This plan was
eventually abandoned, but at one time it seems to
1 LuziOj Precettori) p. 38.
QUEEN ANNE OF BRITTANY 243
have been seriously entertained, as we learn from a
curious autograph letter addressed by the Queen to
Isabella, which is stiU preserved in the Gonzaga
archives : —
" A ma Cousine la Marquise de Mantove.
" Ma cousine, mon cousin votre mari m'a dit que
lui et vous me veuliez bailler votre fille pour estre
avec mey et vous la m'envoyerez, mais que eussiez
sceu mon vouloir. Ma cousine, envoiez la moi quant
vais voudrez, car je la traieteray tout ainsi que si eUe
estoit myenne, et pouvez estre seure, ma cousine, que
tout ce que je pourriez faire pour vous, toujours my
employereay de bon coeur. Priant Dieu, ma cousine,
qu'U vous ait en sa garde.— Votre bonne cousine,
Anne.
" Escript h, Loches, le 15 jour Decembre." ^
During her husband's absence, Isabella adminis-
tered public affairs with her usual tact and abUity,
and managed to keep Duke Valentino in good
humour. The negotiations regarding Federico's
marriage and Sigismondo's Cardinalate still dragged
on, and the Duke sent an envoy to Mantua to dis-
cuss the terms of the contract with the Marchesa.
But both parties regarded each other with mutual
suspicion, and in her letter to Francesco, Isabella
complained that the Pope returned equivocal answers
as to the Cardinal's hat, while the Duke refused to
fix the amount of his daughter's dowry. Cgesar's
object, it is clear, was to gain time, and to keep in
touch with the Gonzagas and with France, until the
dream of his life was successfully accompHshed, and
he had established one great kingdom of Central
Italy. AU through the autumn of 1502, he continued
1 L. Pelissier, Revue historique, 1891.
244 MASSACRE OF SINIGAGLIA
his career of conquest. After quelling the rebellion
in Urbino, he marched against Sinigaglia, which was
held by Guidobaldo's sister Giovanna for her young
son Francesco deUa Rovere, and captured and sacked
the town. Then he seized Perugia and Citta di Cas-
tello and proceeded to attack Siena. The conquest
of Tuscany was his next object, and he entered into
negotiations with the Emperor for the investiture of
Pisa, Siena and Lucca. On the 1st of January 1503, he
informed the Marchesa Isabella, who had repeatedly
sent him congratulations on his victories, of his latest
success at Sinigaglia, and of the cold-blooded murder
of his old colleagues, Vitellozzo, Oliverotto, and their
companions. This treacherous act, which Machia-
veUi describes as the " bellissimo inganno di Sini-
gaglia," forms the subject of a long letter which
Isabella wrote to her husband on the 10th of January,
and which throws considerable light on the political
situation.
" My dear Lord,— Much as I desire Your High-
ness's return, and impatiently as I long to see you
again, I quite understand from your letter of the 16th
of December, which the muleteer has brought me,
that the cause of your delay is honourable and useful
to Your Excellency as well as agreeable to His Most
Christian Majesty. This being the case, I am content
with your explanations, and take no little pleasure
and comfort in hearing how much favour and atten-
tion is paid you by His Majesty. The fact that he
supphes you with money from his own purse, over
and above the pension which you receive, is in
itself, as you say, a great sign of affection. I thank
you warmly for telling me this, and have communi-
cated the good news to the most revered Proto-
TREACHERY OF CtESAR BORGIA 245
notary, the Magnifico Giovanni Gonzaga, and other
of our gentlemen, who feel no small pleasure in
hearing that you are so highly honoured. After my
last letter of the 3rd, I should not have written
again if I had not received your letter, from which
I gather that this one will reach you before you
leave Lyons. Although you have doubtless heard
of the capture and death of the confederates of La
Marca, I will tell you the account which I have
received from our mutual brother, Signor Giovanni.
On the 3rd he wrote to say that the illustrious Lord
Duke of Romagna was congratulating himself with
Signor Giovanni Bentivoglio on the capture 3,t
Sinigaglia of Paolo Orsini, ViteUozzo, the Duke of
Gravina and Oliverotto de Fermo. He justifies his
action because, in spite of the pardon which they
had received from His Holiness and His Excellency
after their former rebellion, they came to Sinigaglia
as soon as the French troops were gone, with the
intention of seizing his person. Fortunately he
heard of this and was able to forestall their action
and treat them as they would have treated him.
The said captains went to Sinigaglia by order of the
Duke, with his safe conduct, and took possession of
the town in his name and then rode out to meet
him. The Duke shook hands with them and em-
braced them, re-entered the town riding between
ViteUozzo and the Duke of Gravina, and talking with
them. But as soon as they entered the house where
he took up his abode, he made them prisoners with
his own hands, and they were led away bound and
condemned to die the next morning. Both ViteUozzo
and Oliverotto had their heads cut off. By the same
letter I hear that the Prefetessa, hearing of the
246 ISABELLA'S ACCOUNT
Duke's advance, abandoned the town, leaving the
Rocca w^ell defended, and went by Florence to
Genoa, to join S. Pietro in Vincula (her brother-in-
law, Cardinal Giuliano), which Francesco Malatesta
also confirms. Signor Giovanni wrote on the 5th,
to say that the Lord Duke had informed his brother-
in-law (Annibale BentivogHo) of the death of
Vitellozzo and Oliverotto, and that the Duke of
Gravina and Paolo Orsini are prisoners, and will
shortly be put to death in their turn. From Rome
we hear of the imprisonment of Cardinal Orsini,
and M. Giovanni Lucido (Cattaneo), writing from
Rome on the 3rd, tells me that the Pope threw
Rinaldo Orsini, Cardinal Archbishop of Florence,
and Giacomo Sante Croce into prison on the same
day, and that all Rome has taken up arms in self-
defence. But the Pope is well prepared and there
wiU not be any revolt. Signor Giovanni teUs me
that the Duke left Sinigagha after the town had been
sacked by his troops, and hastened against Perugia,
where Giovanni Baglioni and his men-at-arms sur-
rendered. I hear that a plot has been made in
Siena against Pandolfo Petrucci, who has imprisoned
twenty-two citizens, and put three of the chief
among them to death. The Lord Duke has written
a very courteous letter to Signor Giovanni Benti-
voglio, begging him to conclude an aUiance with
him, and asking for 100 light horse and 30 men-
at-arms, whom he is sending under the Cavahere
della Volta. I also hear that Signor Giovanni
Maria da Camerino has fled and that his women
are gone to Florence, and the people of Ancona
have sent envoys to the Duke promising to pay
him obedience. No one knows where the Duke
OF BORGIA'S CONQUESTS 247
of Urbino is, but, from what we hear, we think
that he escaped from Cittk di Castello through the
Casentino, and Modesto, who has just arrived from
Venice, tells me it is reported there that he has
reached a place of safety and will soon be in Venice ;
but of this I have not heard either from the Duchess
or from any one else. Francesco Malatesta writes
from Florence that the devoted friends of Your
Excellency there are alarmed at the extraordinary
good fortune and exaltation of the Duke of Romagna,
and wish that you were at home, feeling that they
could better decide on their course of action if they
knew they could depend on you and your forces.
It is said that the Pope has renewed negotiations
with the Florentines, and I hear this also from
Rome, but it is not likely that they will trust him.
AU the same, if Your Excellency has not already
concluded this alliance, I beg you to make haste and
to settle matters, while you are with the Most Christian
King, as long as you can do this with profit and
honour, for there is no knowing what may happen.
As to the affairs of Naples, I hear so many different
reports that I do not know what to believe, and
leave Your Excellency to learn the truth at court.
There is nothing more to say, excepting that I and
Federico and our other children Leonora and Livia
are well and commend ourselves to your good graces.
—Your obedient wife, Isabella."^
A few days after writing this letter, which gives
so graphic a picture of Csesar Borgia's treacherous
and vindictive acts, the Marchesa thought it well to
conciliate the all-powerful Duke by offering him a
present of a hundred masks, which she sent him
1 D'Arco, Notizie d'Isabella, p. 265.
248 HER GIFT TO C^SAE.
together with the following letter congratulating him
on his " glorious victories."
" Most illustrious Lord, — Your kind letter inform-
ing us of Your Excellency's fortunate progress has
filled us with that joy and delight which is the natural
result of that friendship and affection which exists
between you and ourselves, and in our illustrious
lord's name and our own we congratulate you on
your safety and prosperity, and thank you for inform-
ing us of this, and also for your offer to keep us
informed of your future successes. This we beg you
of your courtesy to continue, since, loving you as we
do, we are anxious to hear often of your movements, in
order that we may rejoice in your welfare and share
your triumphs. And because we think that you
should take some rest and recreation after the fatigues
and exertions of these glorious undertakings, we send
you a hundred masks by our servant Giovanni, being
well aware that so poor a gift is unworthy of your
acceptance, but as a token that if in our land we
could find an offering more worthy of your greatness,
we would gladly send it to you. If these masks are
not as fine as they should be. Your Excellency must
blame the masters of Ferrara, since owing to the
law against wearing masks in public, which has only
lately been revoked, the art of making them has been
in a great measure lost. We beg you to accept them
as a token of our sincere goodwill and affection for
Your Excellency. As for our aUiance, we have no
more to say until we hear the decision of His HoM-
ness regarding the securities required for the payment
of the dowry, which we await in order finally to
conclude the agreement." ^
1 Gregorovius, "Lucrezia Borgia/' App.
HIS REPLY 249
The Duke, who not only followed the practice of
other noble youths in riding out in disguise in search
of adventures, but always wore a mask on his face
in the streets of Rome,^ was highly gratified by the
Marchesa's present, and wrote to express his thanks,
from Aquapendente, on the 1st of February : —
" Most illustrious and excellent Madonna, hon-
oured Comatre,^ dearest Sister, — We have received
Your Excellency's gift of a hundred masks, which
are most acceptable to us not only on account of
their remarkable beauty and variety, but because of
the time and place of their arrival, which could not
possibly be more opportune. It seems, indeed, as
if Your Excellency must have foreseen the order of
our plan of campaign and our present journey to
Rome. After having taken the city and province
of Sinigaglia with all its fortresses, in a single
day, and justly punished the perfidious treachery of
our foes, we released the cities of CasteUo, Fermo,
Cisterna, Montone, and Perugia from the yoke of
tyrants, and brought them back to their old obe-
dience to His Holiness. Last of all, we deposed
the tyrant Pandolfo Petrucci from the dominion of
Siena, where he had shown such atrocious cruelty.
And these masks are above all precious to us be-
cause they afford a fresh proof of the singular affec-
tion which we know that you and your illustrious
lord cherish for us, and have already shown in other
ways, and now testify again by the long letter which
accompanies them. For all this we thank you in-
1 A. Giustinian, Dispacci, i. 412.
2 Comatre, Fr. commere, gossip. Csesar Borgia habitually ad-
dresses Isabella by this title because he had stood godfather to
her son.
250 FRANCESCO IN FRENCH SERVICE
finitely, although the greatness of your merit and of
your goodness towards us is beyond words, and
claims recognition by deed. We shall wear the masks
with pleasure, and their perfect beauty will need no
other ornament. As for our mutual relationship, we
are doing our utmost to bring this about, and when
we reach Rome will see that His Hohness gives his
consent to the contract. The prisoners for whom
Your Excellency intercedes shall be set free, and as
soon as we have information to this effect, we will
let Your Highness hear from us without delay. — Of
Your Excellency the compare and younger brother,
C^SAU, Duke of Romagna. From the pontifical
camp at Aquapendente." ^
When Csesar Borgia vprote this letter, he was
hurrying back to Rome to quell the rising of the
Orsini, who, in revenge for the Pope's violent acts,
had entrenched themselves in their fortresses of Ceri
and Bracciano, and were ravaging the Campagna up
to the gates of Rome. While he was engaged in this
fresh warfare, news reached him of the reverses which
the French troops had suffered in Naples. On the
28th of April, Gonsalvo de Cordova gained a decisive
victory over the French general, Louis d'Ars, at
Cerignola, and soon afterwards entered Naples in
triumph. Louis XII. lost no time in raising a new
army, and in July the Marquis of Mantua, who had
only lately returned from France, started for the
South with La TrdmouiUe, at the head of a con-
siderable force.
Isabella was once more left to hold the reins of
state in these critical times. Since her visit to Venice
after Lucrezia Borgia's wedding, she had not left
1 Gregorovius, " Lucrezia Borgia," App.
A MIRACLE-PLAY 251
Mantua for a single day, but in April 1503, she paid
a short visit to her father, and spent St. George's day
at Ferrara, where, as usual, she received a warm wel-
come. On the 24th, she wrote to her husband : —
" Yesterday, besides receiving visits from a large
number of ladies and gentlemen, these Signors, my
brothers, remained continually with me, and about
four o'clock my sister-in-law (Lucrezia) came to my
room, and after conversing very pleasantly for some
time, took me in her chariot for a drive through
Ferrara tUl late, when the said Signors returned with
me to my lodgings. To-day the representation of
the Annunciation has been given. I went to the
Castello to fetch this lady, who continues to show me
great honour and aflfection, and we went together to
the Archbishop's house, where I found my lord father,
and saw the wooden stage which had been erected
and sumptuously adorned for the occasion. A young
Angel spoke the argument of the play, quoting the
words of the Prophets who foretold the Advent of
Christ, and the said Prophets appeared, speaking their
prophecies translated into Italian verse. Then Mary
appeared, under a portico supported by eight pillars,
and began to repeat some verses from the Prophets,
and while she spoke, the sky opened, revealing a
figure of God the Father, surrounded by a choir of
angels. No support could be seen either for His feet
or for those of the angels, and six other seraphs
hovered in the air, suspended by chains. In the
centre of the group was the Archangel Gabriel, to
whom God the Father addressed His word, and after
receiving his orders, Gabriel descended with admir-
able artifice, and stood, half-way in the air, at the
same height as the organ. Then, all of a sudden, an
252 AT FERRARA
infinite number of lights broke out at the foot of the
angel- choir, and hid them in a blaze of glory — which
really was a thing worth seeing, and flooded all the
sky with radiance. At that moment the Angel
Gabriel alighted on the ground, and the iron chain
which he held was not seen, so that he seemed to
float down on a cloud, until his feet rested on the
floor. After delivering his message he returned with
the other angels to heaven, to the sound of singing
and music and melody, and there were verses recited
by spirits, holding lighted torches in their hands and
waving them to and fro as they stood supported in
the air, so that it frightened me to see them. When
they had ascended into heaven, some scenes of the
Visitation of St. Elizabeth and St. Joseph were given,
in which the heavens opened again and an angel
descended, with the same admirable contrivance, to
manifest the Incarnation of Jesus to Joseph, and set
his doubts at rest regarding the Conception of the
Holy Virgin. So the festa ended. It lasted two
and a half hours, and was very delightful to see, be-
cause of the fine machinery which I have described,
as well as other things of the kind which I have left
out. But the heat was great, because of the im-
mense crowd of people. On Thursday I think we
are to have a representation of the Magi and of the
Innocents, of which I will inform Your Excellency,
to whom I send by this courier a basket of fresh
honeycomb, — You most devoted vdfe, Isabella." ^
On the following day the spectacle of the Magi
offering their gifts at the cradle of Bethlehem, with
the guiding star in the sky above, and a fine display
of opened heaven and angelic choirs, excited great
1 D'Arco, Notizie d' Isabella.
DEATH OF ALEXANDER VI. 253
admiration, while the Massacre of the Innocents
moved the spectators to tears, and many women and
children who were present cried aloud.^
A fresh sorrow awaited Isabella on her return
home. This was the death of her sister-in-law,
Chiara de Montpensier, whose troubled life ended
at Mantua on the 2nd of June. The poor Duchess
of Urbino, hving as she was in penury and exile
at Venice, felt this fresh blow keenly, and wrote to
Isabella saying that after losing state, home, and
fortune, she was now deprived of the sister who had
been to her as a mother. Suddenly an unexpected
event turned the tide of affairs and changed the
whole political situation.
On the 18th of August, Pope Alexander VI.
died in the Vatican. His iUness had been very
short. On the 5th of August, he and his son Caesar,
who was on the point of starting to join his army
at Perugia, and embark on a fresh series of con-
quests, dined with Cardinal Adriano da Corneto at
his villa. The following day Caesar wrote a letter to
Isabella d'Este, gratefully accepting an offer of a
couple of her dogs, which belonged to a breed that
he admired especially. A week afterwards both he
and his father fell seriously ill of malarial fever,
which attacked all the guests who had dined at the
Cardinal's villa. The old Pope, who was seventy-three
years of age, became rapidly worse, and on the after-
noon of the 18th Costabih wrote to Duke Ercole,^ and
Cattaneo sent word to the Marquis of Mantua, that
His Holiness was sinking. He died that night, but
Cattaneo, who informed the Marquis of the event
1 D'Ancona, Origini, vol. ii.
2 Archivio di Stato, Modena.
254 RETURN OF GUTDOBALDO
early the next morning, says expressly that there was
no suspicion of poison, although both father and son
were taken ill at the same time.^
The news spread like wildfire through the whole
of Italy. It reached Francesco Gonzaga as he was
marching south with the French army at Parma,
and he sent it on by express courier to Mantua. It
rejoiced the heart of Giovanni Sforza, who was ill in
bed himself, but told his brother-in-law that the good
news had nearly cured his malady, and that he only
hoped soon to hear that Valentino was also dead ! It-
reached the exiled Duke and Duchess in their sad
retreat at Venice, and Guidobaldo started without
delay for Urbino, where the people rose in arms and
welcomed him with acclamation. Never was an
exiled prince greeted with such passionate delight.
The children poured out to meet him with olive-
branches in their hands, and hailed his return with
triumphal songs. Old men wept tears of joy,
women and children thronged the streets, and
mothers held up their little ones to see the Duke, and
told them never to forget that day. " The very
stones," wrote CastigUone, "seemed to rejoice, and
to sing for gladness." ^ Emilia Pia's secretary, who
described the scene to the Marchesa Isabella, told
how high-born women danced with glee in the
streets, and old blind men of eighty were led up to
the Duke, and asked leave to touch him with their
hands that they might be sure he was there again.
" Some brought their children in arms to see him ;
others uttered words which would have moved the
1 Arckivio Gonzaga, quoted in Pastor, " History 'of the Popes,"
vi; App.
^ Serassi, Lettere di CastigUone.
PAPAL CONCLAVE 255
stones to tears." ^ Elisabetta herself wrote to tell
Isabella the welcome which the Duke had received
from his faithful people. She remembered how, in
the darkest days of her distress at Mantua, the good
Sister Osanna bade her dry her tears, since Borgia's
dominion would prove as transitory as a blaze of straw,
and thanked God that her words had proved true.^
Meanwhile all Rome was in a ferment. " The
confusion," wrote Cardinal Egidio of Viterbo, "was
such that it seemed as if everything were going to
pieces." Caesar Borgia, after vainly trying to take
possession of CasteU' Sant' Angelo, was borne in a
Utter to Nepi, and placed himself under the pro-
tection of the French army, which had advanced to
Viterbo. On the 16th of September, thirty-seven
Cardinals met in conclave. At first the French
candidate, George d'Amboise, was thought certain of
success, but Giuliano deUa Rovere strongly opposed
his election ; and before the conclave met, the
Mantuan agent, Ghivizzano, wrote to the Marquis,
saying : " The Cardinals are buzzing about us like
bees, and intriguing in all directions, but neither
D'Amboise nor Giuhano will be Pope: it wiU be
Siena or S. Prassede." The issue proved that he was
right. On the 22nd the aged Cardinal Piccolomini
of Siena was elected. "A good man," says Ghivizzano,
"whose previous life and acts of charity make the
people hope that as a Pope he will be the very
reverse of Alexander VI. And so they are beside
themselves with joy." ' On the same day Francesco
1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 149-
2 Donesmondi, Storia Eccl. di Mantova, ii.
8 Archivio Gonzaga ; Pastor, "History of the Popes," vol. vi.
p. 619.
256 THE POPE'S DEATH-BED
Gonzaga wrote a remarkable letter to his wife from
the French camp outside the walls of Rome, telling
her of the Pope's election, and repeating the legend
which had already sprung up in the popular mind,
that the devil himseK had come to fetch the soul of
the hated Borgia.
" Most Ulustrious and beloved Wife, — In order
that you may hear the latest details which have
reached us of the Pope's death, we write to inform
you how, in his last illness, he began to speak and
act in a way which made those about him think that
he was wandering, although he retained perfect
possession of his faculties. His words were : ' I wiU
come, you are right, only wait a little longer,' and
those who were in his secrets afterwards revealed that
in the conclave held after the death of Innocent III.
he had made a compact with the devil and had bought
the papal tiara at the price of his soul. One article
of the compact was that he should sit in the papal
chair for twelve years, which he actually did, as
weU as four more days. There are others who say
that seven devils were in the room at the moment
when he gave up the ghost. And when he was dead,
his blood began to boil, and his mouth foamed as if he
were a burning caldron, and this lasted as long as he
was above ground. His corpse swelled to such a size
that it lost the very shape of a human body, and there
was no diflference between its breadth and length.
He was carried to the grave with little honour, his
body being dragged from the bed to the sepulchre by
afacchino, who fastened a cord to his feet, because no
one would touch him, and his funeral was so miserable
that the wife of the lame dwarf at Mantua had a
more honourable burial than this Pope. And every
ELECTION OF PIUS III 257
day the most shameful inscriptions are written over
his grave for his last epitaph. To-day we hear that
Siena is elected Pope. He is said to be a neutral
person, without passions or party. We are altogether
at the service of Your Highness, and beg you to kiss
Federico many times, We have sent to ask for
victuals and a passage through Rome for our army,
as had been already promised, but since the new Pope
had not yet been elected, we do not know what
answer to expect. We hear that the enemy are at
Genazzano and are advancing against us. Mon-
seigneur Tremogha is iU and has been forced to retire,
so we are left in command of the camp. Sene valeat.
Conjux Marchio Mantuce. Eoo Insula. 22 Sept.
1503. Xmo Regis Locum tenentis Generalis." ^
1 Gregorovius, "Lucrezia Borgia," App. p. 123.
VOL. I. i^
CHAPTER XV
1503—1505
Death of Pius III. — Election of Julius II. — Return of Elisabetta to
Urbino — Caesar Borgia sent to Spain, and his capture — Birth
of Isabella's daughter Ippolita — Francesco Gonzaga resigns
his command of the French armies — Returns to Mantua — The
French lose Naples — Comedies at Urbino, Mantua, and
Ferrara — Death of Duke Ercole — Quarrels and plots of the
Este brothers — Marriage of Francesco Maria della Kovere
and Leonora Gonzaga — Sigismondo Gonzaga raised to the
Cardinalate — Letters of Emiha Pia — Castiglione and Bembo—
Death of Suor Osanna — A Dominican vicar-general — Birth
of Isabella's son Ercole.
The election of Pope Pius III. proved to be only a
temporary measure. The new Pontiff was already
worn out with age and infirmities, and the fatigues of
his coronation, added to the anxieties of his office,
brought on a fatal Ulness of which he died on the
17th of October, only a month after his elevation to
the papal see. This time all parties agreed to choose
Giuliano della Rovere, and on the 1st of November,
after the shortest conclave ever known in the long
history of the Papacy,^ he was proclaimed Pope under
the title of Julius II. His election produced a
complete revolution in the policy of the Holy See.
The Duke of Urbino, whose sister was the wife
of Giovanni della Rovere, Prefect of Rome, was
appointed Captain - general of the Church, with
Giovanni Gonzaga as his lieutenant, and his nephew
, 1 Pastor, " History of the Popes," vi. 210.
258
ELISABETTA RETURNS TO URBINO 259
Francesco della Rovere, the son of Julius the
Second's brother, was publicly recognised as heir to
the duchy. Elisabetta, who had remained in Venice
untU peace and order were restored in her lord's
dominions, now took leave of the Doge and Senate,
and after thanking them publicly for the hospitality
which she had received at their hands, returned to
Urbino the first week in December. On the 11th,
her seneschal, Alexander Picenardi, gave Isabella the
following account of the rejoicings which hailed her
entry : —
"Most illustrious Mistress, — I venture to give
Your Highness an account of the entry of Her
Excellency the Madonna into Urbino, but could not
describe the disasters and discomfort that we suffered
fi-om bad weather, bad roads and bad hostelries
between Venice and Urbino. When at length we
were four miles from Urbino, the whole population
poured out to meet her, chanting Te Deums, with
olive-boughs in their hands and crying ' Gonzaga
and Feltro ! ' And when we reached Urbino, a
great number of gentlemen and citizens were
at the gates, and came out to greet her with the
greatest joy, kissing and clasping her hand with tears
of tenderness, so that it was three hours before Her
Excellency could reach the Piazza. Then she
alighted from her horse in front of the Vescovado
and entered the church, where aU the ladies of Urbino
were assembled, bringing her an olive-branch with
golden leaves, and all with one voice called out Her
Excellency's name and embraced her with great joy.
Then Monsignore the Bishop, robed in his vestments,
took Madonna the Duchess by the hand and led her to
kneel down before the high altar, where all the clergy
260 THE COURT OF URBINO
were assembled, and they began to sing Te Deum
laudamus and other devout prayers. When the
blessing had been given, they came out of church and
entered the palace, accompanied by the Bishop and
all the clergy and a great multitude of people, and
they remained in the palace till past midnight, and
every day and every night Her Excellency has been
feted in this manner. She is very well and com-
mends herself to Your Illustrious Highness, and, poor
as I am, I venture to throw myself at your feet, and
hope Your Excellency with forgive my presumption.
— Your most faithful servant, Alexander, Sene-
schal." '
Thus the good Duchess came back to reign over
this people who adored her, and charm the hearts of
men by her gentleness and sweetness. For the next
few years the court of Urbino shone with more than
its old lustre, and the most brilliant cavaliers and
most accomplished scholars and artists — CastigMone
and Bembo, Cristoforo Romano and I'Unico Aretino —
sought a home in this palace, where Guidobaldo and
Ehsabetta held up before the world a noble example
of the purest virtue and the most refined culture.
By degrees the home of the Montefeltri regained
its former splendour. It is true that the priceless
tapestries of the Trojan war were never recovered,
but the famous library, and many of the treasures
of art which the palace had formerly contained, were
restored by Csesar Borgia, who, in his anxiety to
conciliate the new Pope, was abject in his professions
of friendship for the Duke, whom he had wronged so
cruelly. But the election of Juhus II. had sealed his
doom. He was too dangerous a rival to be allowed to
1 Luzio e Renier, op. cit., p. 150.
CiESAR BORGIA'S END 261
remain in Rome, and after surrendering the chief for-
tresses of Romagna to the Pope, he went to Naples.
Here Gonsalvo de Cordova arrested him by order of
King Ferdinand of Aragon, in spite of a safe conduct
which had been given him. He was sent to Spain in
August 1504, and after languishing for two years in
prison, succeeded in making his escape from the
Tower of Medina del Campo, and fell in March 1507,
at Viana, fighting for his brother-in-law, the King of
Navarre, against Castile. So this hero of great
powers and greater audacity, whose extraordinary
career had filled Italy with amazement, and whose
name struck terror into every heart, died at the early
age of thirty-one, and the meteor which had flashed
upon the world with sudden brilliancy, vanished into
night. Six months after his father's death he was
already forgotten in Rome. " Of Valentino," wrote
the Mantuan envoy, Giovanni Lucido, " one hears
no more." To the last he remained on friendly
terms with the Gonzagas, and when he reached
Pampeluna, he wrote a long account of his escape
to the Marquis, signing himself, " Your Co7npare et
minore fratello" and telling him that now, after aU
his labour and efforts, he was at length a free man.
And Lucrezia, in her letters to Francesco, thanks
him repeatedly for " the singular and truly fraternal
love that you have ever shown to my brother the
Duke."
While these strange events were thrilling the
heart of Italy, and one Pope was succeeding the
other at the Vatican, Isabella remained at Mantua,
directing the government in her husband's absence,
and much occupied with her little son. On the
12th of November, she took the three-year-old child
262 MESSER VIGILIO
to see an Italian comedy, the " Formicone," adapted
from Apuleius, acted by some pupils of Francesco
Vigilio, who held a public school in Mantua, and
whom she had already determined in her own mind
to choose for Federico's tutor. The performance was
admirable, and Isabelkj in writing to her lord, tells
him that " a son of our steward distinguished himself
in the part of a servant, and will be of great use in
our comedies, while Federico was surrounded by a
fine troop of children." But the Marquis disapproved
alike of Messer Francesco and of his comedies, and
wrote back rudely that Isabella need not take
Federico to those plays and encourage VigUio's
hopes of having the child for a pupil, since he meant
the boy to have little book-learning, and acquire that
Uttle from other teachers, and hoped soon to take
him out to fight at his side and make a man of
him.^
The day on which Isabella attended the repre-
sentation of Messer VigiUo's comedy was marked by
another event, as we learn from her brother-in-law
the Protonotary's letter to the Marquis.
" Yesterday I went with this illustrious Madonna
and Signor Federico to the school of Messer Fran-
ceso, whose scholars recited a fine comedy exceedingly
well. It was a very pretty sight, and pleased us all
highly. Afterwards we drove as usual to take the air
in the town, and returned to the CasteUo about
five o'clock; and Madonna sat down to cards to
spend the evening after her usual custom, and played
till after eight. Then she rose from the table and
told me that she vs^ould not come to supper as she
felt pains, and went to her room, and we sat down
' D'Ancona, Oii^ni, ii. 389, and Luzio, Federico Ostaggio, p. 62.
BATTLE OF THE GARIGLIANO 263
to table, and 1 supped in the Castello. And before
we had finished, the said Madonna gave birth to a
Uttle girl, and although we greatly desired a boy,
yet we must be content with what is given us."^
This fourth daughter who was born to Isabella
received the name of Ippolita, and became a nun in
the Dominican convent of S. Vincenzo.
Meanwhile Francesco Gonzaga was conducting
the campaign in the kingdom of Naples under great
difficulties. The French troops under his command
were turbulent and undisciplined, his movements were
impeded by heavy floods, and his plans were foiled by
the superior generalship of the Great Captain, although
he succeeded in crossing the river Garigliano and
relieving Gaeta. At length, heartily sick of the
task, and being unable, in the words of the Venetian
diarist, " any longer to endure the pride, quarrels, and
disobedience of the French," he resigned his command
on the plea of iUness, and returned to Mantua.^ A
few weeks after his departure, on the 28th of De-
cember, the French were completely defeated in a
battle on the banks of the Garigliano, and Piero dei
Medici, who fought on the French side, was drowned
in the river. - The fortress of Gaeta, which Gonsalvo
had long blockaded in vain, now surrendered, and
Naples was lost to France. On the 11th of Feb-
ruary a treaty was signed at Lyons by which
Louis XII. gave up aU claim to the kingdom, and
Ferdinand of Aragon remained in undisputed pos-
session of Southern Italy.
Francesco's return and the restoration of Duke
Guidobaldo to his duchy were celebrated with bril-
1 Luzio e Renier in Giom. St. d. Lett. It., vol. xxxiv. p. 27.
2 M. Sanuto, vol. xxiv.
264 PLAYS AT FERRARA
liant f#tes both at Mantua and Urbino. Among the
dramatic performances given at the Duke's court,
was the so-called Comedy of Pope Alexander VI. and
Valentino, a representation which included Lucrezia's
wedding, Caesar Borgia's conquest of Urbino, the death
of the Pope, and the triumphant return of Guidobaldo
and Ehsabetta.^
Duke Ercole came to Mantua at Isabella's urgent
entreaty, and highly commended the series of come-
dies that were given] in his honour. After he had
returned home, a dramatic version of the history of
Joseph, by a Ferrara poet, was given in the ducal
theatre, and Isabella's old friend, the chamberlain
Bernardo dei Prosperi, sent her full accounts of the
performance. "Yesterday," he writes, "this Signer
had the first part of the story of Joseph represented,
up to his imprisonment in Egypt. It was very
touching, and admirably acted in perfect silence,
because we have adopted the good customs learnt
at Mantua, and no longer allow every rogue to
come in and interrupt the performance. There was
no music but that of the organ and some flutes,
which were very soft and pleasant to hear."^ The
Duke's health had lately given much cause for
anxiety, and he was no longer able to ride ; but in
July he travelled in a litter to Florence to pay his
vows at the shrine of the Annunziata. After his re-
turn he fell seriously iU, and Isabella hurried to Fer-
rara to nurse him. But he rallied again, and retained
his keen interest in literary subjects. On the 27th of
October Isabella sent him one of the satirical pro-
ductions known as prediche d'amore, which had been
1 D'Ancona, Origini, ii. 21 ; Ugolini, Storia di Urbino, ii. 128.
2 D'Ancona, op. cit.
DEATH OF ERCOLE D'ESTE 265
lately composed at Milan by a witty friar named
Fra Stoppino.^ He lingered on through the winter
months, and died on the 25th of January 1505.^
Alfonso, who had been absent on a long journey
to France, England, and Spain, hurried home on
hearing of his father's illness, and the day after his
death, rode through Ferrara clad in white, during
a heavy fall of snow. A bold soldier and mighty
hunter, the new Duke was a man of extraordinary
physical strength, and would spend whole nights in
the marshes of Comacchio, tracking wild boars, in the
roughest weather, to the despair of his courtiers and
attendants. He inherited the artistic traditions of
the house of Este, built the sumptuous marble villa
of Belvedere on an island in the Po, and employed
Giovanni BeUini and Titian to decorate the Castello.
But his fierce and vindictive temper was the cause
of great family dissensions, and the first year of his
reign was marked by a terrible domestic tragedy
which cost Isabella many tears. First of all, in
November 1505, a quarrel arose between Cardinal
Ippolito d'Este and his half-brother GiuKo, an illegi-
timate son of the late Duke, who were both in love
with their sister-in-law Lucrezia's fair maid-of-honour,
Angela Borgia. One day Angela laughingly told
the Cardinal that his brother GiuUo's eyes were worth
more than his whole person, upon which Ippolito, in
a fit of jealous rage, hired a band of assassins to attack
Don Giulio on his return from a hunting expedition
at Belriguardo. The ruffians tried to put out his
eyes and partially bhnded him. Don Alfonso repri-
manded the Cardinal severely, and when Don Giulio
1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 169.
2 Frizzi, Storia di Ferrara, iv. 250.
266 PLOT OF THE ESTE BROTHERS
had recovered his sight, Niccolo da Correggio succeeded
in effecting an apparent reconcihation between the
brothers. But a few months afterwards GiuUo entered
into a conspiracy with his younger brother Ferrante
to murder both the Duke and Cardinal and seize the
duchy. The plot was discovered, and Ferrante was
thrown into prison. Giulio fled to Mantua, where
Isabella not only gave him shelter, but did her utmost
to save him from Alfonso's wrath, and wrote long
letters to her old friend Niccolo on the subject. But
the Duke was implacable, and Niccolo visited Isabella,
in July 1506, at her vUla of Sacchetta, and laid proofs
of Giulio's guilt before her eyes. After this the un-
fortunate prince was given up, and imprisoned together
with Ferrante in the dungeon of the CasteUo of
Ferrara. Here the unhappy brothers were left to
languish in captivity during the whole of Alfonso's
reign. Ferrante died in prison in 1540, and Giulio
was only released in 1559, two years before his death.
By this time he was eighty-three years of age, and
the Ferrarese chroniclers relate that when the old man
came out of his cell he still wore the clothes which
had been in fashion when he was first imprisoned
more than half a century before.^
This tragic incident threw a gloom over Isabella's
family life, and after 1506, her visits to Ferrara became
less frequent than of old. But her strong family
instincts made her cling to her father's house, and in
the long struggle which Alfonso maintained against
three successive Popes, he found a loyal friend and
supporter in his sister.
While these dark shadows saddened Isabella's old
home, happier events were taking place at Mantua.
1 Frizzi, op. cit,, p. 255.
BETROTHAL OF LEONORA GONZAGA 267
The month of her father's death was also that of her
daughter Leonora's betrothal to Francesco Maria
deUa Rovere, the nephew and heir of her brother-in-
law, Duke Guidobaldo. This marriage had long
been desired by Elisabetta, and was equally agreeable
to the Marquis of Mantua, as a means of obtaining
the Cardinalate, which he had been striving to obtain
for his brother during the last fifteen years. The
Venetian ambassador, Giustiniani, mentions a re-
port as to the proposed marriage in his despatches
from Rome as early as 1503;^ and Emilia Pia, in
writing to Isabella at the close of 1504, remarks that
" the new Cardinals are to be made at Easter, and it
is held certain that Our Reverend Monsignore, the
Protonotary, wiU be one." The official proclamation
actually took place in the Consistory held in the
following November, when Sigismondo Gonzaga was
proclaimed Cardinal, together with eight other
prelates nominated by the Pope. In January 1505,
Lodovico Canossa was sent to Mantua with formal
proposals by the Duke of Urbino, and on the 2nd of
March, the marriage was celebrated in the Vatican,
Giovanni Gonzaga acting as his niece's represen-
tative. The Pope insisted that the bride should
bring her husband a dowry of 30,000 ducats, but
only 20,000 ducats were to be paid at once, and the
remainder of this sum at a period to be fixed by
the Duchess Elisabetta. Leonora's portrait was sent
to Rome, at the request of the Pope, and in a letter
of April 30, Isabella expressed her regret to the
Prefettessa Giovanna della Rovere that it was only a
black and white drawing, since there was no painter
at present in Mantua who could handle colours well,
1 Dispacci, ii. 359.
268 EMILIA PIA'S LETTERS
but said that she hoped to be able to send a better
picture soon. It was a strange excuse for Isabella
to advance, but Mantegna's health, we know, was
failing, and his son Francesco and Bonsignori were
probably engaged elsewhere. This proposed mar-
riage led to an active renewal of correspondence
between the courts of Mantua and Urbino, and since
Elisabetta's time was fuUy occupied, she often
employed Emilia to write to Isabella in her stead.
The letters of this witty and accomplished lady
abound in information of the most varied description.
She thanks the Marchesa for an account of the
Queen of France's coronation, which Mario Equicola
has sent from Blois, and gives her in return aU the
latest gossip from Rome and Urbino.^ She describes
the funeral services in honour of Queen Isabella of
Spain, the banquets and representations given by Car-
dinal Sanseverino, and the wedding of Juhus the
Second's daughter. Madonna Felice, to Giovanni
Orsini, the eccentric lord of Bracciano, whom Leonora's
husband, Francesco Maria, denounced as a madman.
She tells Isabella the marriages which are expected to
take place, and those which have ended in smoke,
and discourses in the same witty fashion of carnival
plays and Lent sermons. She has a great deal to
say of the eloquent friar, whose preaching is con-
verting every one at court, and rejoices to hear
that Isabella is attending the sermons of two of
her own friends, who are giving Lent courses at
Mantua, although they can hardly rival the Urbino
monk. In the same letter she informs the Marchesa
of the alarm which had been excited in Rome by
a report, brought from Spain by the merchants of
1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, pp. 158-168.
ISABELLA'S PERFUMES 269
Valencia, that Cassar Borgia had escaped from prison.
In reahty, as Emilia explains, Valentino had tried to
let himself down from his prison window by a
rope made of his bedclothes. But his attempt
failed. The rope gave way, and he feU and dis-
located his shoulder. The Marchesa's lively corre-
spondent ends by telling Her Excellency that she is
sending her a certain kind of wood that is said to
have a marvellous property for polishing the nails
and the hands, as well as a recipe for washing the
teeth, which is used by the Queens at Naples. And,
in return, Isabella sends Emilia some of the silver
boxes containing perfumes of her own manufacture,
which were eagerly sought after by persons of quality,
and were so highly appreciated by Pietro Bembo in
the days when he was secretary to Pope Leo X.^
In the summer of 1504, Elisabetta invited
Isabella to accompany her to Rome. The Marchesa,
who had never seen the Eternal City, was enchanted
at the prospect, and declared that she would either
come incognito, clad in black, or else as a maid in the
Duchess's train. This journey, however, was ulti-
mately abandoned, partly from fear of the plague in
Rome, of which there were several cases ; partly
because of the wish of the Pope to cut down
expenses and restore order in the disordered finances
of the Vatican. "This Pope," writes Emilia, "is
so niggardly that I know not if our plan will succeed."
But she rejoices to hear that the standards of the
Church, which are said to be very gorgeous, and the
baton of Captain -general, are on their way to
Urbino.
That summer a distinguished Mantuan gentle-
1 V. Cian in Giom. St. d. Lett. It, ix. 120.
270 CASTIGLIONE AND
man, Baldassarre Castiglione, entered the Duke's
service and settled at Urbino, much to the displeasure
of his own liege lord. The Marquis Francesco's
consent had indeed been formally asked, but he was
naturally reluctant to lose so brilliant and accom-
plished a figure from his court. When, a year
afterwards, Guidobaldo sent him as envoy to Ferrara,
he was forbidden to cross the Mantuan frontier ; and
when, in 1506, he went to England to receive the
Order of the Garter, which Henry VII. conferred on
the Duke of Urbino, Francesco refused to aUow him
to visit Mantua and embrace his mother before he
started on this long journey. Neither Elisabetta's
intervention nor a humble request which Castighone
himself addressed to the Marquis could induce him
to relent, and it was not tiU his return from England,
in the spring of 1507, that he was allowed to set foot
on his native soil. Isabella, however, proved a good
friend to Castighone, and earned his undying grati-
tude by her constant efforts to appease her husband's
resentment.
Another Mantuan subject and kinsman of Fran-
cesco, Cesare Gonzaga, also settled at Urbino in
these days, but always remained on friendly terms
with the Marchesa, and was one of her constant cor-
respondents. A devoted friend and companion of
Castiglione, he assisted him in the composition of
the pastoral play, " Tirsi," which the two authors
recited at the carnival of 1506, and is one of the chief
speakers who figure in the " Cortigiano." Cesare
was the brother of Luigi Gonzaga, who fives in
Ariosto's verse, and whose splendid palace of Borgo-
forte, near Mantua, was often honoured by Isabella's
presence, and his gay letters were much appreciated
CESARE GONZAGA AT URBINO 271
by the Marchesa. In the summer of 1504, he writes
that he hears she has been reading Esop, and is so
much devoted to Latin literature as to despise all
poetry in the vulgar tongue, and ends by begging her
not to tire out all her teachers !
Again, at the close of 1510, when Cesare is on
duty in the papal camp at Modena, he snatches a
moment to beg Her Excellency to allow Marchetto
to set a madrigal of his composition to music, and
send him the melody of her favourite sonnet
" Cantai," " If you will do me this kindness," he
adds, " I shall be grateful to you till the Day of
Judgment, and do not think it strange if in these
troublous times I make" such a request, for, after all,
' Marte ha solo la scorza, e il resto Amove ' (Mars
only has the bark of the tree, and Love holds the
rest)."i
Yet another member of this brilliant group,
whose name lives in CastigUone's immortal pages,
and who, like him, sang the praises of the gentle
Duchess, was also intimately connected with Isabella
d'Este. This was the Venetian Pietro Bembo, who
came to Rome in the spring of 1505, on a mission
from the Doge and Signory, and was sumptuously
entertained by the Duke and Duchess, in their anxiety
to make some return for the hospitahty which they
had received at Venice during their sad days of exile.
Isabella was already weU acquainted with Pietro's
father, the old Podesta of Verona, and with his brother
Carlo, whose palace she had visited in Venice, and who
had lent her some portraits of Petrarch, Dante, and
Boccaccio, which she wished to have copied at Mantua.
In January 1503, Isabella begged Pietro to accompany
1 D'Arco, Documenti, 81 ; Arch. St. It., App. ii.
272 PIETRO BEMBO
his friend Ercole Strozzi to Mantua, but at that time
he had been unable to accept her invitation, which
thus, in his courtly phrase, rendered him at once the
happiest and most miserable man in the world.
Again, in October 1504, Bembo was on his way to
visit Mantua, when he heard, on arriving at Verona,
that Isabella had been summoned to her dying father's
bedside. The Marchesa renewed the invitation early
in April, and Pietro wrote from Venice, saying that to
visit Mantua was one of the greatest wishes of his
heart, but regretting that as yet he is unable to wait
upon her. " Since, however," he adds, " I cannot come
myself, I send Your Highness, by Zuan Valerio, part
of my family, that is to say, three youths who have
not yet left the house, and commend them humbly
to Your Excellency's good offices." ^ The three
sonnets of his composition, which Bembo enclosed,
were highly appreciated by Isabella. She was still
better pleased when, two months later, their author
presented himself at Mantua on his way back to
Venice, with letters from Elisabetta and Emilia Pia,
who availed herself of this opportunity to send the
Marchesa a flask of myrtle scent. On this occasion
Isabella showed her cultured guest the treasures which
^ she had collected in the little room in the old Castello,
with their delicately inlaid woodwork, and frieze of
music notes and playing cards, and the new studio of
the Grotta in the Corte Vecchia, where her choicest
pictures and marbles were arranged. There Bembo
saw Michel Angelo's sleeping Cupids and Mantegna's
two priceless paintings, the Triumphs of Venus and
of Pallas, as well as Perugino's Triumph of Chastity,
which had lately arrived from Florence, and promised
1 D'Arco, Notizie d' Isabella, p, 312.
VISITS MANTUA 273
to try and induce his friend Giovanni Bellini to
paint a similar fantasia for the Marchesa's camerino.
He saw Isabella's rare books and manuscripts, the
dainty Aldine editions of Virgil and Petrarch, in the
production of which he had helped the great Venetian
printer ; Messer Lorenzo's wonderful organ and viols
and ebony and ivory lutes, and all the rich stores
of antique cameos and medals which were Isabella's
proudest possession. Isabella herseK, as she wrote to
tell Bembo's friend Tebaldeo, was delighted to see
how much her illustrious guest appreciated all her
treasures, and charmed him by singing some of his own
songs to the music of her lute. After his departure
Bembo sent her the following letter, beginning, after
his usual custom, with the words Jesus Christus : —
" I send Your Excellency, my dear Madonna and
most honoured mistress, ten sonnets and two some-
what irregular tramotti, not because they are worthy
to come into your hands, but because I wish that
some of these verses may be recited and sung by Your
Signory, remembering with what surpassing charm
and sweetness you sang the others, on that happy
evening which we spent together, and knowing that
my poor compositions can never attain to greater
honour. Most of the sonnets and both the tramotti
are quite new, and have not yet been seen by any one.
I must confess that they will not, I fear, answer Your
Signory's expectations, any more than they satisfy my
wishes. But I know that, if they are sung by Your
Signory, they will be most fortunate, and nothing
wUl be needed to delight the Usteners except the
beautiful and charming hand and the pure, sweet
voice of Your Most Illustrious Highness, to whose
good grace 1 never cease to commend myself. Your
VOL. I, s
274 MACHIAVELLI AT MANTUA
Signory will deign to commend me to my Lady Alda
Boiarda. — Of Your Illustrious Signory the servant,
PiETRO Bembo." ^ Venice, July 1, 1505.
About the same time, Isabella received a stiU more
famous visitor in the person of the great Florentine,
Niccolo Machiavelli, who came to Mantua in May, to
bring Francesco Gonzaga the formal intimation of his
appointment to the post of Captain - general of the
Republic. His name had been first suggested by
Louis XII. to the Gonfaloniere Piero Soderini, and
negotiations had been in progress during some weeks,
as we learn from a letter which Isabella wrote to her
husband from Ferrara in April.
" My dear and most illustrious Lord, — The arti-
chokes which Your Excellency sent me were
especially acceptable, both as coming from you and
as being the first which I had seen this year. My
brothers and sister-in-law enjoyed them with me,
for love of you, and I thank you warmly for taking
the trouble to send them. Yesterday morning I
received yours of the 17th, containing much good
news. Truly, as Your Excellency remarks, nothing
can be better for us than the establishment of peace
between the most powerful King of the Romans and
France and our other allies. We shall be able to
judge of this better when we hear particulars of the
treaty, but the idea that the Florentines wish to
secure you for their captain seems to me to promise
well and to be likely to lead to great honour. You
will no doubt consider this offer with your wonted
prudence, and I will keep my counsel, for it is not
a thing to be discussed with other persons, until it
is finally arranged. I think of coming to Revere
1 D' Aico, Notizie d' Isabella, p. 312.
DEATH OF SUOR OSANNA 275
on Saturday, and on Sunday to Mantua. Here we
have no further news since the last which I gave
you. Please kiss Federico for me. — Your wife,
Isabella." ^ Ferrara, April 19, 1505.
This was the errand which brought Machiavelli
to Mantua early in May. Unfortunately we have
no further information as to his visit, interesting as
it would have been to learn the impression which so
brilliant a lady and skilled a diplomatist as the
Marchesa made upon the author of the "Prince."
His mission proved unsuccessful, for the salary
which the Florentines offered was far inferior to
that which the Marquis had received from the
Venetians, and after some prolonged negotiations,
Francesco finally declined the post.
The death of Suor Osanna, who breathed her last
in Isabella's arms one day in June 1505, was a
great sorrow to the Marchesa. She had shared all
her joys and griefs with this saintly friend, and
the good Sister is said to have loved her exceed-
ingly. To Osanna's prayers Isabella confidently
believed that she owed the gift of the long-desired
son, whose birth the holy nun prophesied some
months before the event, while in all private and
public calamities the Gonzagas always turned to her
for help and consolation. Now the Marchesa placed
a silver head on the Sister's grave, and employed her
favourite sculptor, Cristoforo Romano, to raise a noble
monument to her memory in the Dominican church.
During the next few years Isabella endeavoured by
every possible means to obtain the beatification
of her sainted friend, an honour which was finally
bestowed upon Suor Osanna by Pope Leo in 1515.
1 D'Arco, op. cit. 277.
276 PADRE FRANCESCO
Her efforts on behalf of " this our dear mother," as she
calls her, were warmly supported by Padre Francesco
da Silvestri, the distinguished Dominican friar who
filled the chair of theology at Bologna during many
years, and was afterwards appointed General of the
Order by Pope Clement VII, This learned and ac-
complished ecclesiastic, to whom Bandello dedicates
one of his novels and whom he praises as a most
rare and singular man, endowed by nature with
every gift of body and mind, was one of Isabella's
most constant friends and correspondents. He shared
her love of music and pictures, and encouraged her
to persevere in her own studies, and above all to
train her children in the love of learning and in
the fear of God. In March 1504, when Isabella,
released by her husband's return from the cares of
government, once more returned to her classical
studies, Padre Francesco writes to her from Milan :
" I hear that you are still studying grammar. I
hope that, when I visit you next, I shall find you
studying rhetoric." And, in a Latin letter of July,
he exhort^ her to attend to her son's education, and
warmly approves the choice of Vigilio as his pre-
ceptor, " See that Federico receives a liberal
education," he writes when the boy is barely four
years old, " and applies himself in these tender years
to letters, so that he may grow up worthy of his
wise and excellent mother." When her father died,
Francesco's letter was the most beautiful and con-
soling among all the infinite number of condolences
which Isabella received, and when Suor Osanna
died, six months later, it fell to the friar to pro-
nounce her funeral oration. In later years, Fran-
cesco's arduous duties as Vicar-General and General
Isabella d'Este
PhotOy Aiidersori,
LA BEATA OSANNA
By F. BoNSiGNORi
{Mantua)
To /ace p. 276, vol. i
ISABELLA'S ILLNESS 277
of the Order compelled him to travel through France
and Italy to inspect Dominican convents, but his
interest in the Marchesa and her farnily never failed,
and he remained a true and faithful friend until he
died at Rennes in 1528.
In the autumn of 1505, Isabella fell seriously ill
of fever, and could not shake off the attack for
several weeks. Her friends in aU parts of the world
wrote to express their anxiety, and combined to
beguile the dulness of her convalescence. Bembo
made anxious inquiries after her health from Venice.
Cristoforo Romano called on all the Dominican friars
of Le Grazie at Milan to pray for her recovery, and
promised to visit the Seven Churches in Rome, and
say a prayer at each altar for his dear lady. Mario
Equicola sent the latest literary curiosities from Blois
for Isabella's amusement, confessing, however, that he
could find nothing in France that would be new to
her I Elisabetta despatched her favourite jester, Fra
Serafino, to Mantua without delay, and Emilia Pia
wrote lively letters to cheer the invalid. But Isabella
forgot all her troubles when, towards the end of
November, she gave birth to a fine boy.
" I rejoice," wrote Cristoforo from Rome, " to hear
of this fortunate event, and thank God that your ill-
ness has had so happy an ending. Be of good cheer,
dear lady, and may God give you much joy in your
children ! " This second son, the future Cardinal
who was one day to preside over the Council of
Trent, received the name of Louis or Alvise in
honour of the King of France. But Isabella preferred
to call him Ercole, after his grandfather, and when
the boy grew up to manhood, he became known by
this second name.
CHAPTER XVI
1505—1507
Isabella's visit to Florence — Mario Equicola's treatise, Kec spe nee
metu — Ravages of the plague at Mantua — Isabella retires to
Sacchetta with her family — Francesco Gonzaga joins Pope
Julius II. at Perugia — Conducts the papal army against Bologna
— Flight of the Bentivogli— Entry of the Pope— Letters of
Isabella — Frisio sends her antiques from Bologna — Birth of
Isabella's son Ferrante — Visit of Ariosto to Mantua — Favour
shown him by Isabella — Ariosto pays her a splendid tribute in
his Orlando Furioso.
In March 1506, Isabella took a journey to Florence
to discharge a vow which she had made during her
illness, to Santa Maria dell' Annunziata, and spent
the Feast of the Annunciation in that city. It was
the first and, as far as we know, the only visit that
she paid to this town, where were living so many
friends, and which must have had many attractions
for her. Great, indeed, must have been the interest
with which she saw the Duomo and the Campanile
of Giotto, the churches and palaces on the banks of
Arno, and above all, the frescoes and pictures of her
artist-friends. Perugino, it is true, had failed to
satisfy her, and young Raphael had lately left for
Urbino; but Isabella probably met the Florentine
master Lorenzo di Credi, since he soon afterwards
painted a Magdalene by her order. And she looked
with wonder and admiration at the great cartoons
which Leonardo and Michel Angelo-r-the sculptor
ISABELLA IN FLORENCE 279
of her Cupid — had designed for the decoration of the
Council Hall, in the Palazzo Pubblico.
The Marchesa paid several visits to Madonna
Argentina, the wife of the Gonfaloniere Piero
Soderini, and met Leonardo's uncle, but did not
succeed in seeing the painter, who had retired to
Fiesole in disgust at the failure of his experiments
in wall-painting, and was buried in the absorbing
study of hydraulics.
Before she left Florence, she desired a sculptor
named Filippo Benintendi to model a silver effigy of
herself, to be placed by that of her husband in the
chapel which Alberti had built for Lodovico Gonzaga,
in the Annunziata church. But the plague broke out
after her return to Mantua, and for some time to
come, money was very scarce in the Gonzaga treasury.
So the poor sculptor never received the 25 ducats
which the Marchesa had promised him, and nearly
two years afterwards, he ventured to remind her of
this omission, telling her at the same time how
beautiful her image appeared, standing as it did in
the finest part of the church, and how much ad-
miration it excited from every Mantuan who came
to Florence. Unfortunately this silver head shared
the fate of all Isabella's busts, and perished in a fire
which destroyed all the ornaments and works of art
in the Gonzaga chapel.^
On the Marchesa's return home, the alarming
increase of the plague compelled her to leave Mantua
and take her children to the villa of Sacchetta, where
they spent the summer months. Here, on her birth-
day, the 16th of May, she received a present of
exceptional interest in the shape of a treatise,
1 Luzio in Emporium, 1900, p. 355.
280 ISABELLA'S MOTTO
composed by Mario Equicola, on her favourite motto,
Nee spe nee metu.
The Marchesa, as we have already seen, in common
with most Itahan lords and ladies of the age, was in the
habit of adopting special devices and mottoes. The
musical notes which gave expression to her love of
music, the candelabra bearing the motto Syffieit unum
in tenehris which Paolo Giovio suggested, and which
were embroidered in gold on her festal robes, may
still be seen among the decorations of her eamerini at
Mantua. There too, inscribed in quaint charactelrs, we
may read the words of her favourite motto. Nee spe nee
metu, by which she expressed that serene equanimity
and philosophic frame of mind to which she aspired,
neither elated by hope nor cast down by fear. She
chose this motto for her own as early as 1504, when,
at the request of her friend Margherita Cantelma,
she gave one of the Imperial ambassadors who visited
Mantua and Ferrara gracious permission to use the
words in writing and in his armorial bearings and on
the liveries of his servants, " we ourselves," she wrote
at the time, " being the inventor of this motto, and
having adopted it as our peculiar device."^ In the
following autumn Mario Equicola, the Calabrian
secretary of Margherita Cantelma, who had followed
her and Sigismondo to Ferrara, and was often em-
ployed by the Este princes, wrote from Blois to
inform Isabella that he had written a book on this
device, and only awaited her permission to publish the
work.
"Most illustrious Lady, — It was the custom of
ancient authors to seek for noble and excellent sub-
jects in order to render their works immortal.
1 Luzio e Renier, Giom. St. d. Lett. It, xxxiii. 49.
"NEC SPE NEC METU" 281
Signora mia, although I am only a poor man of
letters, I thank God, who has allowed me to serve
Your Excellency, from whose rare talents and lively
wit I hope some of my writings may acquire fame
and authority. In this firm hope, 1 have composed
a book of some forty sheets, in interpretation of JVec
spe Tiec metu, making mention of the words on every
page. In the said book I introduce discussions on
the meaning of this motto, which will show Your
Signory the methods of ancient poetry, philosophy,
and theology, connecting Nee spe nee metu with each
in turn, and praising this motto above all others ever
composed. I beg you to give me leave to publish
and print this little work, and if you wish, will send
it to you before it is pubhshed. I await your
pleasure, certifying that the twenty-seven chapters
on this inscription are nearly finished, after which I
will illustrate the musical signs." ^
Mario had apparently divided his book into
twenty-seven paragraphs, in allusion to the mystic
number XXVII., vinte sette, another device adopted
by Isabella, which, we learn from Paolo Giovio,^
signified that all the sects {sette) of her enemies
were conquered {vinte). Isabella readily gave the
desired permission, and the book, printed and bound
in elegant covers, was presented to her by Margherita
Cantelma on her next birthday. "Your letter and
the book which Madonna Margherita sent us," wrote
Isabella in reply, " are a more deUghtful birthday
present than any gift of gold or other precious things,
since you have thereby exalted our little device to
subUme heights." But, with her usual candour, she
1 D'Arco, Notizie d' Isabella, p. 313.
2 Delle Imprese, p. 59.
282 MARIO EQUICOLA
remarks to her friend Margherita, in a letter written
on the same day : "I certainly never imagined all
these mysteries when I made the little motto I "
Mario, however, succeeded in ingratiating himself
with the Marchesa, who invited him to Mantua on
his return from France, and whom he describes, in
a letter to Cardinal d'Este, as one of the Trinity
whom he served on earth. " The first," he explains,
" is Your Highness ; the second, Signor Sigismondo
Cantelma ; the third, the Signora Marchesana." When
Mario left Mantua in the following September, Isa-
bella sent a bust of herself as a gift to his mistress,
Margherita Cantelma, in return for the pains which
this beloved friend had taken with her birthday
present. A year afterwards, he accompanied Mar-
gherita again to Mantua, and assisted at some
dramatic performances given by Bishop Lodovico
Gonzaga and Antonia del Balzo at Gazzuolo. " You
must blame Madonna Antonia," wrote Margherita,
on the 15th of November, "who insists on keeping
me here a night to see the Most Reverend Mon-
signore's comedy. I will not describe the amuse-
ments to which these lords and ladies devote
themselves until we meet ; they really are so many
and varied that I am convinced time does not fly for
them, and they are more youthful, more joyous and
blooming than ever. None the less I am longing to
be in the sacred Grotta, with her who is the true
goddess of my adoration." Bishop Lodovico was
the last survivor of Lodovico and Barbara Gonzaga's
sons, and only died in 1511, while his sister-in-law,
Antonia, lived tiU she was close upon a hundred, and,
as we learn from Bandello's writings, preserved her
joyous nature and love of letters to the last. In
PLAGUE AT MANTUA 283
March 1508, we find Equicola again reading Latin
poetry at Mantua with Isabella, and in the autumn he
finally obtained leave from Cantelma and his wife to
enter the Marchesa's service, and eventually succeeded
CapQupi as secretary of his "most illustrious and
learned pupil."
When Mario's libretto reached Isabella, she had,
as we have said, left Mantua to escape from the
plague, and was spending the summer at Sacchetta.
It was a dreary year in the chronicles of the house of
Gonzaga. The chronicler Schivenoglia records that
the plague broke out at carnival, and lasted so long
that the gates of Mantua remained closed untU the
day of the Blessed Virgin's Nativity in September.
More than 2000 persons died in the city and suburbs,
and the expenses of the epidemic cost the Govern-
ment 140,000 ducats. Trade suffered severely, and
the people were reduced to the greatest misery.
The taxes were not paid, the revenue was in arrear,
and Isabella was once more compelled to pledge her
jewels. But she battled bravely with this new
calamity, and exerted herself with her wonted energy
to found charitable institutions and to relieve the
distress of her husband's subjects.
When the plague was beginning to abate, the
Marquis received a summons from Pope Julius II.,
who was starting an expedition against Perugia and
Bologna, and invited Francesco to meet him at
Urbino. By a bull issued on the 10th of January,
this warlike Pope had proclaimed his intention of
recovering all those territories of which the Holy
See had been unjustly robbed, and the Baghoni and
Bentivogh were the first usurpers against whom he
directed his arms. Duke Guidobaldo recommended
284 POPE JULIUS TI
his brother-in-law to His Hohness as the most vahant
and expert captain in Italy, and Julius, acting on
his suggestion, summoned Francesco to his help.
When he left Rome towards the end of August, so
promptly did the Marquis respond, that he reached
Perugia at the head of 200 horse on the 17th of
September, a few days after the Pope had entered
that city in triumph. " The faith which His Holi-
ness places in us," he wrote to Isabella, "leaves us
no choice in the matter, yet we cannot but feel com-
passion for that noble family of Bentivoglio, which
has always been so friendly to us."^ On the 25th
Julius II. reached Urbino, where great preparations
had been made for his reception, and Ehsabetta had
borrowed Isabella's biggest pearls and finest tapestries
to do honour to His Hohness. So numerous were
the guests that Elisabetta wrote to tell her brother
that to her regret she was unable to give him lodg-
ings in the palace, which, "being neither Mantua
nor Ferrara," could with difficulty accommodate the
Pope and his seventy-eight Cardinals. After a
rough journey by bridle-path over the mountain-
passes, in torrents of rain, the Pope reached Imola,
and here, on the 25th of October, the Marquis of
Mantua was appointed lieutenant-general of the
army in the place of Guidobaldo, who was laid up
with gout. At the same time news was received of
the flight of Giovanni Bentivogho and his family,
who had left for Milan, with a safe conduct from
Charles d'Amboise, the French general. A fort-
night later, on the 11th of November, the Pope
entered Bologna in triumph.
The weather was lovely and the roses were stiU
1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 174.
CONQUERS BOLOGNA 285
in bloom when, on the Feast of St. Martin, the
victorious Pope, wearing his purple cape and richly
jewelled mitre, borne aloft on the Sedia Gestatoria,
made his way through the crowded streets to the
Cathedral of S. Petronio. Before him marched the
pontifical standard-bearers, and, immediately behind
him, ten white palfreys with golden bridles, closely
followed by the Duke of Urbino, the Marquis of
Mantua, Francesco Maria, Prefect of Rome, and a
suite of nobles. Last of all, borne aloft in the air,
came the Papal Cross and the Host, under a silken
baldacchino, accompanied by the Sistine choir and
forty priests with Ughted tapers in their hands.
Thirteen triumphal arches were erected along the
route, and gold and silver medals, struck in honour of
the occasion, were thrown to the crowds of spectators
who came to witness the stately pageant and receive
the Pope's blessing from the steps of S. Petronio.
Francesco Gonzaga wrote glowing accounts of the
great ceremony, and of the marked favour with which
the Pope treated him. "It is even possible that we
may bring him with us to Mantua," he wrote to his
wife, and forthwith he desired her to see that the
CasteUo was made ready, and gave orders that the
frescoes of the Camera Dipinta should be carefully
restored, where they had suffered damage, by Andrea
Mantegna and his sons, " or, if they cannot or will
not do the work, by M. Francesco Bonsignori." But
when this letter was written the great master was
already dead. A brief mention of his death appears
in one of Isabella's letters to her husband, but she
was too full of joy and triumph at the thought of
Francesco's triumphant success to dwell on this
irreparable loss.
286 THE CAMERA DIPINTA
On the 21st of September she wrote : —
"I received Your Excellency's letter, describing
your entrance into Perugia, and all the honours and
favours and promises which you have received from
His Holiness. May God in the highest be praised !
And I thank Your Excellency for informing me of
this, since nothing can give me greater joy and satis-
faction than to hear of your prosperity and exaltation.
Let Your Signory boldly ask the Pope to come to
Mantua, and we shall contrive to do him honour.
I will have the corridor arranged, and the Camet'a
Dipinta restored by Maestro Francesco, because, as
you wUl have heard, Messer Andrea died immediately
after your departure. Federico's cure has been pro-
nounced complete by the doctor this morning. He
dressed, and dined with good appetite, and is playing
merrily in his room, so he is making a good recovery.
I will not write more now, as Monsignore is sending
this courier in great haste. Ercole and the girls are
weU."
Three days later she wrote again : —
" I ordered Ghisolfo to have the corridor leading
to the Camera Dipinta covered in, but we cannot
find the key of the armoury, and have not Kked to
force the door open, because of all the things which
it contains, and it ought not to be left open all day,
while men are going to and fro, and are at work in
the corridor. Your Excellency must tell me what you
wish about this, as there will be plenty of time. The
son of M. Andrea Mantegna will repair the Camera,
as Maestro Francesco (Bonsignori) cannot leave his
Cenacolo (in the convent of the Zoccolanti Friars).
I have been to see the new rooms at S. Sebastiano,
which are very fine, and the pictures seem to me
MANTEGNA'S TRIUMPHS 287
admirable, Federico and the other children are well,
and so am I." ^
The pictures to which Isabella here alludes were
in all probability Mantegna's Triumphs of Csesar,
for which a new haU had been lately prepared in
Francesco's newly-built palace, S. Sebastiano, near the
Porta Pusterla. In a letter of April 17, 1506,^ Corradi
had already informed the Marquis that he has ordered
the carved pilasters for Messer Andrea's canvases,
and it is these pillars, as Dr. KristeUer points out,^
that we see reproduced in Andrea's well-known wood-
cuts. But the Triumphs were still employed as stage
decorations, we learn from a letter of Francesco
Gonzaga, who, in giving Vigilio orders for the repre-
sentations of a comedy in December 1501, desired
him not to move the Triumphs from Marmirolo, as
those which are in Mantua will be sufficient to adorn
the theatre.*
We find another allusion to the new rooms in
the Palazzo della Pusterla in a long letter which was
addressed by Isabella to her husband on the 5th of
October, and which, although written in her most
lively strain, shows that her relations with him were
none of the happiest.^
" Your letter apologising for not having written
before has filled me with confusion, for it is I who
ought rather to have begged your pardon for my
1 D'Arco, Arte e jxrtefir' ii. 68.
2 lUA., &^.
8 "Andrea MaFtegji.%" p. 279-
* D'Ancona Origin, ii.
^ This intefcsti.!ig letter escaped the notice of D'Arco and
other his*Mrians, nnd is only to be found in a rare pamphlet pub-
lished in 1870 by P. Ferrato and entitled Lettere di Principesse di
Casa Gonzaga.
288 ERCOLE GONZAGA
delay, not you, when I know you have hardly time
to eat ! but, since you are so kind as to make excuses
to me, you will also be so good as to forgive my
delays, which were caused by Federico's illness and
my reluctance to give you any news which would
make you anxious. Now, thank God, he is perfectly
well, and I can the more gladly discharge my duty.
The hat for which you ask shall be made as soon as
the master arrives, and shall be as fine and gallant
as possible. If you will say how soon you require it,
I wiU try and have a coat made to match, if there is
time ; but pray teU me this at once. Thank you for
wishing me to see your entry into Bologna. It wUl
no doubt be a magnificent sight. I am very weU,
and, if you desire it, will come gladly. I think even a
bomb would have some trouble to make me miscarry.
Your Highness must not say that it is my fault if I
quarrel with you, because, as long as you show any
love for me, no one else can make me beheve the
contrary. But no interpreter is needed to make me
aware that Your Excellency has loved me little for
some time past. Since this, however, is a disagree-
able subject, I will cut it short, and say no more. I
am sorry Your Highness objects to my calling our
boy Ercole. I would not have done this if I had
thought you would dislike it. But Your Highness
knows that when you were at Sacchetta you said
he was very like my father, of blessed memory ; and
I said that, this being the case, you were wrong not
to call him Ercole. You laughec!^ and said no more ;
but if you had told me your mind, then I should
not have made this mistake. But only let me have
another boy, and you may call him Alvise, or what-
ever you like, and leave the other to be Ercole for me.
PALACE OF S. SEBASTIANO 289
But I am sure that, if I had a thousand sons, I shall
never care as much for any of them as I do for
Federico. All the same, let Your Highness please
yourself, and I will do as you wish. A few days ago
I was in Your Excellency's new house, and, as I
wrote before, thought it most beautiful. You write
that I am making fun of you, which is not true,
because, if the rooms were not fine, I should keep
silence ; but, as the effect seemed strikingly fine to
me, I wrote this to you, and I repeat that they are
beautiful, and all the more so in my eyes because
Your Highness has followed the example of my
room, although, I must confess, you have improved
upon it. I will not weary you any more with words
of little importance, but commend myself a thousand
times over to Your Highness. — By the hand of
Isabella, who longs to see you." Mantua, Oct. 5,
1506.
On the 20th of October, Isabella wrote again as
follows : —
"Your letter, giving me an account of your
fortunate progress, has given me great pleasure, both
as showing me that you are in good health, and
telling me of all the honour and glory you are
gaining. I thank you exceedingly, and must tell
you in return that I and Federico, Alvise, and all
the girls are well. Alvise's nurse has had an attack
of fever, so I have given him Livia's nurse, until she
has recovered, which will not, I hope, be long now.
As soon as the felt hat, which is being made after
Bernardus del Armaria's directions, is finished, I will
have it covered with velvet and embroidered with
such taste that it shall be the finest and most gallant
thing in the world ! Please see that the pearls which I
VOL. I. T
290 SUSPICION OF THE VENETIANS
lent to the Duchess of Urbino are soon restored to you.
Francesco Mantegna has begun to repair the frescoes
in the Camera Dipinta, and Ghisolfo is having the
corridor covered. The painters are gone to Venice
to copy the Itaha. The Vicar of Serravalle writes to
say that part of the Castle vi^aU towards the Po has
fallen down, of which danger he says he warned
Your Excellency and the Masters of Revenue some
time ago. I sent orders to the said officers to provide
for its repair. Owing to this accident Federico's
nurse lost 70 measures of wheat and 200 of millet."
In her next letter Isabella told her husband of
the unexpected difficulties experienced by Girolamo
Corradi and Bonsignori, the two artists whom she had
sent by his orders to copy a fresco with a figure of
Italia in the ducal palace at Venice, which was to be
reproduced in his palace of S. Sebastiano. At the
same time she informed him of the jealousy with
which the Signory evidently regarded his close
relations with the Pope and the King of France.^
" When Messer Hieronimo the painter and his
companion went to Venice to copy the Italia, I
wrote to Carlo Valerio begging him to assist them,
and he, being anxious to serve^ Your Excellency,
asked His Serenity the Prince for his permission,
because without this they could not obtain entrance
into his ante-chamber, and those artists who formerly
ventured to copy the painting without his leave, went
there at their own peril. Messer Hieronimo now
informs me, on Messer Carlo's part, that the Prince
refused to give his consent, saying : ' Look at those
letters which we have received, informing us that the
Marquis of Mantua every day speaks against this
1 D'Arco, Arte e Artefici, ii. 71. Gaye, Carteggio, ii 90.
ISABELLA WARNS HER HUSBAND 291
Signory, not in public, where he uses honourable
expressions, but in private, and not only does he him-
self act thus, but his servants follow his example,
which is most injurious to the State.' It is plain
they nourish hatred against Your Excellency, and
every day they say that they receive similar informa-
tion. Messer Carlo promised to behave with great
circumspection, and advises Your Excellency to say
some good words to the Signory's ambassador now
in attendance on His Holiness, so that he may report
them, and not leave the Senate under so unfavourable
an impression. Whatever turn affairs may take, he
begs you to be careful not to let any one know that
this warning has come from him. As to the copy of
the Itaha, he says it will be best to wait a month
or two, and after that he will try to obtain the
necessary permission. It has seemed to me right,
both for your sake and for that of Messer Carlo, to
give Your Excellency this information, while you are
with the said ambassador. Federico continues to
gain strength. — Your wife, Isabella, with her own
hand." ^ Nov. 1, 1506.
A fortnight later the Marchesa wrote again, on
receiving Francesco's account of the Pope's triumphal
entry into Bologna.
" I was filled with joy on hearing the account of
the solemn entry into Bologna, which Your Ex-
cellency described so fully in your two letters of the
11th, but this evening I am still more delighted to
hear that you soon hope to return home. Here I
expect you eagerly, since my present condition will
not permit of my coming to join you at Bologna. I
have received four ducats of the Pope's new coinage,
1 D'Arco, Arte e Artefici, ii. 72.
292 FLIGHT OF THE BENTIVOGLI
which I distributed as you desired, thanking you
very much for letting me have them. As soon as I
received your first letter, saying that His Holiness
has removed the interdict from Bologna, all the
priests in this city began to celebrate mass in thanks-
giving. I told Messer Annibale Bentivoglio, who is
at Revere, of the permission which you informed me
has been granted him, at your request, to keep his
house and aU its contents. He has replied that he is
well aware how much he owes to Your Excellency,
and begs me to thank you in his name, hoping that
you will continue to give him your good protection,
since his only hope is placed in Your Highness."
The Bentivogli, as we saw, had fled from
Bologna before the papal army, and their splendid
palace, newly decorated with frescoes by Francia's
hand, had been razed to the ground. In this general
ruin, Annibale, the eldest son of the ruling prince,
and his wife, Lucrezia d'Este, Isabella's half-sister,
gratefully availed themselves of the Gonzagas' help
and protection. They came to Mantua, where both
the Marquis and his wife treated them with the
greatest kindness, and braved the wrath of the fiery
old Pope, who was furious with Francesco for giving
shelter to his enemies. " His Holiness," wrote the
Mantuan envoy, " began to bellow like a bull with
rage, and not only threatened Your Excellency, but
Heaven itself." At the same time Isabella did not
neglect this opportunity of enriching her own collec-
tion with the spoils of her vanquished friends. A
certain Niccolo Frisio, who, according to Bembo,
was German by birth, but thoroughly Italian in all
else, and had earned Castiglione's gratitude by
nursing him during a serious illness in Rome, wrote
BUSTS SENT TO MANTUA 293
on the 27th of November to inform the Marchesa
that he had recovered two alabaster heads which had
belonged to the Protonotary, Antonio Bentivoglio, and
had been stolen. One was a head of Antonia ; the
other, which had pearls in the hair, a bust of
Faustina. " I only regret," he added, " that I am
not in Rome, where 1 might have secured a couple
of paintings on the I^abours of Hercules, which
would, I am sure, have pleased you better ; but, if I
return to Rome, I hope to be able to do you this
service. — From him who would have desired to see
Your Excellency reigning in the capitol, in the great
days of triumphant Rome, your servant, Niccolo
Frisio." The busts were duly sent to Mantua,
and found a place in the Grotta, by the side of that
famous bust of Faustina which had been Mantegna's
greatest treasure.^
Francesco's return was celebrated with great
rejoicings at Mantua, and the performance of the
" Formicone " was once more given in the CasteUo
at the New Year, under Messer Vigilio's direction.
Soon afterwards Isabella gave birth to a third son,
who received the name of Ferrante, and became a
vahant soldier, as well as a prime favourite of the
Emperor Charles V.
Isabella herself was dangerously ill for some days,
and narrowly escaped with her life. On her recovery,
her brother. Cardinal d'Este, sent the poet Ariosto
to convey his affectionate congratulations to the
Marchesa on this happy event, an attention which
Isabella greatly appreciated. During the few days
which he spent at Mantua, Ariosto read to the
Marchesa the greater part of his Orlando Furioso,
1 D'Arco, Arte e Artefici, ii. p. 73.
294 ARIOSTO AT MANTUA
and this, she wrote to the Cardinal, "made these
hours in bed pass not only without weariness, but
with the greatest possible pleasure." From the
first Isabella showed the keenest interest in the
Ferrara poet's verses, and encouraged him to continue
his Orlando, and weave the scattered fragments
into one great poem. He often came to visit her at
Mantua, and listened attentively to her advice and
criticism. When his poem was published in 1516,
her husband allowed the paper on which it was
printed to be sent from Venice to Ferrara free of
duty, a privilege to which great importance was
attached, and which was only granted to a few
highly favoured scholars. As soon as the book
appeared Ariosto came himself to Mantua, and
presented a copy to Isabella herself, and another to
her husband, while, in a later edition, he paid a
magnificent tribute to her charms and virtues.
CHAPTER XVII
1507—1508
Louis XII. invites Francesco Gonzaga to help him in the siege of
Genoa — Visit of Isabella to Milan — Fetes in the Castello —
Isabella's correspondence with Elisabetta Gonzaga — Her
intended journey to France — Death and funeral of the Duke
of Urbino — Visit of Duke Francesco Maria to Mantua — Birth
of Isabella's youngest daughter — Murder of Ercole Strozzi,
and death of Niccolo da Correggio — Rivalry of Isabella and
Lucrezia Borgia.
Early in April 1507, Louis XII. entered Italy with
a large army, and invited the Marquis of Mantua to
help him in quelling a rebellion which had broken
out in Genoa, and was secretly supported by
Machiavelli and the Florentines. Francesco gladly
accepted the king's proposal, and distinguished
himself greatly in the siege of Genoa. After the
surrender of that city he entered Milan in triumph
with Louis, who appointed him Grand Master of the
Order of St. Michel, and expressed so earnest a wish
to make the Marchesa's acquaintance that Francesco
sent an express courier to beg his wife to come to
Milan at once. Isabella set out immediately with
her little son Federico, now a child of seven, and
travelled by Lodi to Milan. Once more she saw the
beautiful city which she had known so well in the
reign of her brother-in-law, the unhappy Duke who
languished in the dungeon of Loches, and with that
strange forgetfulness of the past which marked the
296 ISABELLA AT MILAN
men and women of her age, danced and supped with
King Louis in these same halls of the Rocchetta
where Beatrice had died. Great as were the changes
and melancholy the scenes of destruction which met
her eyes in this once splendid palace of the Sforzas,
Isabella found many old friends and familiar faces
in the brilliant crowd of courtiers. Galeazzo di San
Severino was there, in close attendance on the king
as Grand Ecuyer de France, and distinguished
himself in the tournament given in the Marchesa's
honour on the piazza in front of the Castello, which
had been the scene of his prowess in old days. So,
too, was the Moro's favourite painter, Leonardo the
Florentine, who came to Milan at the French king's
urgent entreaty to erect triumphal arches and arrange
the court pageants held in honour of his victory.
And before Isabella left, another old friend appeared
on the scene in the person of Antonio Pallavicini,
now Cardinal di S. Prassede, who arrived in great
haste on the 7th of June as papal legate, and was
received with the stately ceremonial due to the Pope's
representative. But, melancholy as were the associa-
tions which these old scenes and well-known faces
must have recalled, Isabella seems to have enjoyed
herself exceedingly. Her brilliant charms made a
profound impression on King Louis and all his
courtiers, and the monkish chronicler, Jean d'Auton,
singled her out among all the fair and high-born
ladies who were present at the royal ball in the
Castello as une belle dame qui danse a merveilles}
On her return to Mantua the Marchesa wrote in high
spirits to tell her sister-in-law at Urbino all that she
had seen and done in Milan. Her letter, breathing
1 Chroniqiie de Louis XII., publiee par R. de Maulde La Clavi^re.
f:&tes in the castello 297
as it does a gay spirit of fun and rivalry eminently
characteristic of the writer, must be given in fuU : —
" Since Your Excellency went to Rome and
Rome came to Urbino, I have never ventured to
rival the grandeur of your court, nor to pretend that
I have seen as many rare and excellent things as
you have done, but have looked on in silence and not
without hidden envy at Your Highness. But now
that I have been to the first and noblest court in
Christendom, I can boldly not only challenge you,
but compel you to envy me. A few weeks ago, I
was summoned by my illustrious lord to Milan to
pay homage to His Most Christian Majesty, and
arrived there on the vigil of Corpus Christi. After
dinner, as I was about to go and pay my respects,
I received a message from him, desiring me to go
to the lists on the Piazza where the Giostra was
being held. So I went there at the stated hour
and found His Majesty, who came to meet me on
the steps and received me with the greatest courtesy
possible. All the Milanese ladies were present and
the Princess of Bisignano, as well as all the barony
and nobility of France and the great lords of Italy,
the Duke of Savoy, the Marquises of Mantua and
Montferrat, and all the castellans of the Milanese
towns, and the ambassadors of every power in Italy.
The French lords are so numerous that it would be
impossible to name them all. But I must mention
the Due de Bourbon, our nephew, a taU youth of
handsome and majestic appearance, who closely
resembles his mother (Chiara de Montpensier) in
complexion, eyes, and features. If the Roman
Court is marvellous for its ceremonial and order,
that of France is no less amazing and extraordinary
298 JOUSTS AND BANQUETS
for confusion and disorder — so much so that it is
quite impossible to distinguish one man from another I
It is also certainly remarkable for its freedom and
absence of etiquette. In this court, for instance,
cardinals are not treated with any greater honour
than chaplains are in Rome. No one gives place to
them or pays them any respect, from the king
downwards. His Majesty, however, is always most
courteous and respectful to aU who presume to
approach him, and above all to ladies, always rising
from his seat and lifting his cap to show them
honour. Thrice over he came to visit me in my
lodgings. The first time, when I happened to be
dining with Signor Zoanne Giacomo Trivulzio, he
waited more than half-an-hour for my return, and
each time he remained no less than two or three
hours, conversing on different subjects with the
greatest friendliness in the world, neither did he
fail to speak honourably of Your Highness in the
course of conversation. Madonna Margherita di San
Severino (sister of Emilia Pia), the Contessa di
Musocho, and sometimes the Princess of Bisignano,
who are well versed in the French language, were
our interpreters. In spite of repeated efforts, I
never succeeded in finding His Majesty in the
Castello, saving one day when he invited me to a
public banquet in the Rocchetta, where the Princess
of Bisignano and I had the honour of sitting at
his table. We danced in an informal manner both
before and after supper. His Majesty danced with
me, and the Cardinals Narbonne, San Severino,
Ferrara, and Finale, who were present at the banquet,
were constrained by him to dance, much to our
amusement and diversion. I will not write about
THE FRENCH COURT 299
the public spectacles held on the Piazza, because I
know that they will have been fully described by
your ambassador. Certainly I have seen better-
managed jousts, but I never saw, and do not think
that, in all Christendom, it would be possible to see,
a greater number and variety of people ! Most of
them were nobles — ^not only those of Milan, which
must be the first or second largest city in the world,
but the whole court of France and most of the
courts of Italy were here assembled, so that Your
Excellency wUl understand how proud and glorious
a sight it was I The assembly was a much larger
one than we could have seen at the king's own
palace in France, because the lords who followed
him to Italy do not reside at court, and if they are
occasionally present at some solemn ceremony, we
should not have seen all the people and nobles of
Milan, and indeed we may say of Italy, since the
gentlemen and citizens of many different cities
came to witness these spectacles. O how great was
my happiness ! and how it makes me rejoice every
time that I remember it ! Only think what it
would be if Your Signory were here and we could
communicate by word of mouth ! I have written
all this to deliver myself from the sin of envy, and
also to describe a thing which is excellent in spite
of its disorder 1 I am sure that the Roman court
is not to be compared with the French court, where
the temporal and spiritual are united. If Your
Excellency could have seen the procession of Corpus
Christi set out from the Duomo with little enough
order — first the clergy, then an infinite number of
Swiss guards with halberds on their shoulders,
behind them the Gentlemen of the Guard, battle-
300 THE PAPAL LEGATE
axes in hand, and after them under a baldacchino
borne by the chief lords came the Legate of France
bearing the Body of Christ, followed by the king,
with seven Cardinals and all the barony of France
and Italy, and people of Milan and the neighbouring
towns — it would have seemed to you the finest
spectacle which you had ever witnessed ! It is true
that Your Signory may say, ' I have seen Rome ' ;
still you must confess that you saw it undone and
in ruins. But I have seen Genoa, Florence, and
Milan, which in our age are no less worthy of
admiration, in their most triumphant days. I will
not deny that I have a great wish to see Rome,
not for the sake of the court and the different
nations who are represented there, for I could not
look upon anything finer than what I have seen
here, but in order to visit the antiquities and
famous ruins of Rome and to realise what the
triumph of a victorious Emperor must have been.
But this occasion has not been entirely without
Roman ceremonies, since at the entrance of my
friend, the Most Reverend Cardinal and Legate
of S. Prassede, he was received by the Legate of
France and eight Cardinals, all the orders of clergy,
and singers, with great magnificence, because His
Most Reverend Signory holds the rank of the Pope
whom he represents, so that I may say I have seen
both the Pope and the Roman court. Afterwards
I paid His Signory two visits at his lodgings, where I
was most lovingly received, embraced, and honoured,
and was able to realise the splendid state of the
Cardinals who live in Rome. This impression was
confirmed by the visit which I received from Cardinal
de Rouen and all the other Cardinals attached to
ELISABETTA AND ISABELLA 301
this court, who came in a body, not to pay me
honour, which would not have been suitable on their
part, but merely to show me courtesy. I might go
on and describe all the separate visits which I re-
ceived from Italian and French lords and Milanese
ladies, as well as from the King and the Cardinals,
but this and aU the rest I will leave to Your Signory's
imagination, lest I give you too much reason to
envy me I " Mantua, July 7, 1507.
Elisabetta, however, declined to own herself van-
quished, although, owing to Duke Guidobaldo"s ill-
ness, it was two months before she sent the following
rejoinder : —
"It is already over a month since I received
Your Signory's letter, which was delightful and ac-
ceptable beyond words. If I could, my dear lady,
express in words or writing the pleasure and satis-
faction which I take in reading your eagerly expected
and much -prized letters, it would take me all
eternity ! And I am sure that if you reahsed a small
part of the happiness they give me, you would more
often employ your secretary. On the other hand,
if I complain, I do not wonder that they are few and
far between, knowing that all dear and precious
things are rare. . . . Although Your Excellency
thinks that you have delivered yourself from the sin
of envy in order to excite my jealousy by telling me
all the great and magnificent things which you have
seen at Milan, I must reply that I feel no envy
whatever. What sight can be greater than that of
Rome ? I saw that city, which is and has ever been
acknowledged to be the head of the world, with aU
the marvellous ancient and modem treasures which it
contains, to my great and endless wonder and delight.
302 THE POPE AT URBINO
I saw, above all, the Pope, who represents God
upon earth, surrounded by the whole Roman court,
which is second to none. I confess that these things
which Your Signory has seen with so much pleasure,
are also splendid, but if you had seen these other
great sights, you would, I do not doubt, hold them
to be very inferior. But of one thing I can boast
with far greater reason than Your Excellency, which
is that, although I have only once visited Rome,
Rome and the Roman court has been, not once, but
twice to visit me at Urbino. Now Your Excellency
will see if I cannot challenge you to a glorious duel
and carry off an honourable victory ! And further,
I wiU tell you of other things, which will, I am
certain, cause Your Signory voluntarily to retire
from the fray, and perhaps make you regret that
you ever entered the hsts, seeing that you are en-
tirely vanquished. The Most Serene Cathohc King,
being at Gaeta, desired to imitate the example of the
Pope and Sacred College, and himself proposed to
come to visit me at Urbino, which he would have
done had he not been afterwards obliged to change
his plans and take another voyage elsewhere." This
was Ferdinand the Catholic, who came to visit his
newly conquered kingdom of Naples with his new
wife, Germaine de Foix, in October 1506, and re-
mained there until the following June, when he met
Louis XII. at Savona, before that monarch returned
to France. "And the great King of the Romans,
after holding many Diets, was unable to obtain the
Electors' consent to his journey into Italy, so that
till now it has been impossible for him to visit
Urbino in person and keep his promise of showing
me His Majesty. All this will help Your Highness
ISABELLA INVITED TO FRANCE 303
to understand that I do not in the least envy the
sights which you have seen, nor do I need to go
elsewhere to see nobler and more wonderful things,
since, without leaving home. Heaven has granted
me these rare favours. Nor do I intend to take any
more journeys, unless it is to see and enjoy the com-
pany of Your Signory, which I shall always count
the greatest of all pleasures, and which I desire above
aU things, both for the sake of embracing you and
enjoying your presence, and because I have so many
things to discuss with you that, without the help of
Madonna Emilia, five days of uninterrupted talking
would hardly satisfy me. I hear that Your Signory
has made a vow to visit Loreto and exhort you to
fulfil this vow soon, after which I intend to lay such
snares for you that, whether wiUingly or by force,
you wiU find yourself in my power ! My lord Duke
has recovered from his indisposition. I am well and
hope to hear the same of you, &;c. — Your sister,
Elisabetta, Duchess of Urbino." Urbino, Sept. 7,
1507.
When Ehsabetta's letter reached Isabella she had
just received an unexpected invitation from Louis
XII. and Anne of Brittany to visit the French
court, and accept the office of godmother to the
babe whose birth was hourly expected, and who,
it was confidently hoped, would this time prove a
Dauphin. The Marchesa was overjoyed at the pros-
pect, and wrote triumphantly to tell the Duchess of
this new and unexpected honour, and to express her
dehght at the prospect of a journey beside which
the glories of her pilgrimages to Rome, and papal
and royal visits, grew pale.
" I made the sign of the Cross at the sight of a
304 HER JOY AT THE PROSPECT
letter of Your Signory's which was more than six
hnes in length, and felt so much pleasure at the
sight that I read it with greater care and attention
than the short ones which I usually receive. Your
Excellency, I feel, here tacitly confesses that she
prefers the style which I have acquired on my
journeys to that which she has learnt by going only
to Rome ! And since you are under this obligation
to me, I will not this time thank you for your long
and affectionate letter. Neither will I promise to
write more often, as you ask, because, if you look,
you will find that you have many more of my
letters in your file than you can register of your
own. But, in accusing me of neglect, Your High-
ness was evidently anxious to forestall my charges,
knowing well that neither the pleasures and good time
which 1 enjoy here, nor the pressure of overwhelming
business, ever prevent me remembering one whom I
love as my own soul. In reply, I must say that
you have indeed beheld great things in Rome and at
Urbino, and that you hoped to have seen more if the
Catholic King had come to visit you or if the Most
Serene King of the Romans had been able to under-
take his journey to Italy, and the Diets had not
determined otherwise. But how can these things
in any way compare with my prospects in the near
future, putting aside all that I have seen and done
in the past, as is well known to Your Signory ? The
Most Christian King thinks that the Queen cannot
bear a son unless I am present, and he has therefore
begged me earnestly to stay with her for this event,
in order that I may both honour the birth with my
presence, and hold the infant at the sacred font.
What greater honour could there be in this world
OF SEEING PARIS 305
than to be gossip and sponsor to a King of France 1
what splendour, pomp, and glory will be mine ! I
shall not only visit Paris, the most flourishing Uni-
versity and populous city of the universe, but the
whole of France, Burgundy and Flanders, and may
perhaps reach Sant' lago of Galicia. O how many
new lands and royal sights I shall see on this journey !
Your Signory and Madonna Emilia, who know so
much of the country and its customs, will be able to
imagine these. But what if my journey to France
takes place, and the coming of the Emperor to Italy,
which had been overruled by so many Diets, should
be abandoned ? In this case, the glory which you
love will return to me, and the Germans, I think,
may give up Diets in future, and eat and drink to
their hearts' desire ! I do not know if after this
you can claim to be my equal, and if it wiU be pos-
sible for me to accept your invitation to Urbino so
easily ! When I return to Italy I begin to wonder
if this earth wiU be worthy to bear me, if carpets
wiU not have to be spread under my feet, and a
baldacchino sent to meet me wherever I go ! But,
joking apart, I really hope to start for France in a
few days, and am busy making preparations. When
1 return we must think of meeting, for I am as
anxious about this as Your Highness can be."^
Mantua, 25th September 1507.
Whatever her moods may be — ^grave or gay, im-
patient or gentle, stern or gracious — Isabella always
interests and attracts us ; but Isabella in high spirits,
intent on some new departure and gaily challenging
1 This and the three preceding letters in the Archivio Gonzaga
were first published by Dr. Luzio in a pamphlet entitled Gara dei
VOL. I. U
306 DEATH OF GUIDOBALDO
the world in her buoyant fancy, is altogether'irresist-
ible. Unfortunately she was doomed to disappoint-
ment, and this journey to France, to which she looked
forward with so much delight, never took place.
There were many difficulties in the way. Money, as
usual, was scarce at Mantua, and the Marquis was
reluctant to let his wife undertake so long and
expensive a journey. Her presence was urgently
required at home during his frequent excursions, and
the negotiations that were being secretly carried on
between the Pope and his allies might, at any moment,
as Francesco well knew, involve him in war with
Venice. So Isabella was compelled to put off her
expedition, and devote herself to her husband and
children. She could not even visit Ferrara, and
assist at the splendid fgtes that were held at her
brother's court, during the carnival of 1508, when
an Eclogue composed for the occasion by Ercole
Pio was represented, in which the shepherds of
Arcadia paid a glowing tribute to three nymphs
who dwell on the banks of the Po, the Mincio, and
the Metauro, and Lucrezia, Isabella, and Elisabetta,
who were there extolled as the most famous ladies
of the age. For in January her little girl Livia died,
and Francesco himself fell seriously ill, and showed
the first symptoms of that incurable disease which
eventually ended his life. At the same time, sad
news came from U rhino. The unusual severity of
the winter brought on a fresh attack of the gout,
from which Guidobaldo had suflfered all his life, and
on the 11th of April 1508 he died.
The good Duke was only thirty-five years of age,
but his sufferings had been intense during the last
weeks of his life, and death came as a welcome
DUKE OF URBINO 307
release. " Why do you envy me so great a blessing ? "
he said, with a smile, to his heart-broken wife and
weeping friends ; " is it not a great good to be freed
from this terrible burden of pain ? " And a few hours
later he passed away, repeating a favourite passage
from Virgil, to Castiglione, who stood at his bedside.
Elisabetta was inconsolable. She nursed her
beloved husband with the greatest devotion, and won
general admiration by the wisdom with which she
conducted affairs of state, and secured the peaceful
succession of Guidobaldo's young nephew, Francesco
Maria deUa Rovere. "Never was there so prudent
and wise a Madonna," exclaimed her brother Giovanni
Gonzaga, who hastened to Urbino to comfort his
sister; "she is indeed to be commended in all that
she does." ^ Three days after his death, Guidobaldo
was buried by his father's side, in the little church of
the Zoccolanti friars, in the shady gardens which he
had loved so well, and where, on that fatal night, six
years before, he had first received the news of Csesar
Borgia's invasion. On the 2nd of May, a solemn
requiem mass was held in the Duomo, and was
attended by many princes and foreign ambassadors.
A huge catafalque was erected in the nave, decorated
with the late Duke's arms and banners, and his robes
as Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter
were laid on the bier, while his old tutor Odasio
pronounced a touching and eloquent oration, which,
Giovanni Gonzaga informed his brother, "was said
to be very beautiful by persons who understand
these things better than I do." ^ Four days later,
Isabella's faithful secretary, Capilupi, whom she had
1 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 182.
2 Dennistoun, "Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino/' ii. 79-
308 GRIEF OF ELISABETTA
sent to express her grief and sympathy with the
widowed Duchess, reached Urbino, and thus de-
scribes the gloom and mourning which now reigned
in the once gay and brilliant palace ; —
" I found this illustrious Madonna surrounded by
her women in a room hung with black, with the
windows all closed, and only one candle on the floor.
She was sitting on a mattress spread on the floor, with
a black veil over her face and a black vest up to her
throat, and it was so dark I could hardly see, and had
to be led up to her like a blind man by my cloak.
She took my hand, and we both began to weep, and
it was some time before her sobs and my own allowed
me to speak. I gave her Your Excellency's letter,
and expressed my sympathy in as few words as pos-
sible. . . . We spoke of Your Excellencies and your
children, and of different subjects, and she told me
the great kindness which His Hohness has shown
at this time, and I stayed with her more than two
hours. The new Duke was sitting among the women,
but when the Duchess called him he rose, and I
gave him your messages. He replied briefly, but in
a prudent and sensible manner. He looks to me
taller and slighter than I expected, but it was too
dark to judge fairly. The Duchess speaks of him
very warmly, and he treats her with the reverence of
a son and a servant. To-day we spent more than
three hours together, and I induced her to talk of
other subjects, and even made her laugh, which no
one had as yet succeeded in doing. I begged her to
open the shutters, which no one had dared suggest,
and I think that in two days' time she will consent
to do this. She still eats her food on the floor. I
complained of the black veil which displeased Your
FRANCESCO MARIA 309
Highness ; she excused herself for wearing it, but had
not thought of this before Signor Giovanni arrived,
and could not remove it now with decency, but says
that when Donna Leonora conies here as a bride,
she will change it joyfully, and says that if this
marriage proves as prosperous as she desires, she will
no longer feel widowed, and that this will be the
greatest joy that she can ever hope to know on earth.
. . . The funeral ceremonies, as Signor Giovanni has
told you, were sumptuous. There were 825 mourners,
wearing long cloaks with trains and hoods. All the
friars and priests of the state and five bishops were
present, and stood round the catafalque, with an
infinite number of lighted torches, but they were
hardly as numerous or as fine as those at Mantua.
The universal grief and lamentation here is beyond
description." ^
The young Duke, Francesco Maria, now expressed
a great wish to visit his promised bride. For some
time past he had been anxious to come to Mantua,
and his natural eagerness to see his future wife was
further stimulated by Leonora's uncle, Giovanni
Gonzaga, who told him that, when he had seen
Donna Leonora and the Marchese's famous breed of
horses, he would have seen the two finest things
in the world ! For, he assured him, there was no
fairer and sweeter maiden in the whole of Italy, while
no Christian king or prince had a stud to equal that
of Mantua. Accordingly, on the 25th of August,
Francesco Maria made his appearance at Mantua, and
spent two days with the Marquis and his daughter.
Isabella herself was absent, having lately given birth to
another daughter at her summer villa on the heights
1 Luzio e Renier, Maniova e U rhino, p. 185.
310 VISITS MANTUA
of Cavriana, and Federico Cattaneo sent her the
following account of the young suitor's visit ; " Yes-
terday evening about seven, the Duke of Urbino
arrived at the Castello, traveUing incognito with only
four persons, and remained upstairs with our illustrious
lord for about half-an-hour. As soon as he arrived,
our Signor sent for Madonna Laura (the wife of Gio-
vanni Gonzaga), whose little girl died two days ago.
She came at once, and with her Madonna Violante,
Madonna Costanza, Madonna Orsini degli Uberti,
and as soon as they were in the Castello they dressed
Madonna Leonora in white tabby. If Your High-
ness could have seen the confusion there was at that
moment ! As for me, I very much wished you could
have been there for many reasons, and many others of
your servants did the same. The Cardinal then came
in, took Madonna Leonora by the hand, and led her
down the little staircase near the Camera Dipinta.
They entered the Camera of the Sun, and found the
Duke with our illustrious Signor and many other
gentlemen. The Duke came to meet Madonna
Leonora and kissed her. But he did not seem to
have succeeded very well, and our Cardinal pushed
him towards her again, and then he threw his arm
round her head, and kissed her on the mouth. After
this they sat down together and talked of many
things, and more especially of pictures. Presently
my lord called me and bade me fetch the portrait
of Your Highness by Lorenzo Costa, the Ferrara
painter, which I had lately placed in its frame. I
brought it directly, and every one admired it. Then
we all took our leave. The Duke went to St.
Sebastian, and every one else to his own house. Of
JVIadonna Leonora's modesty and bearing I can only
HIS PRESENTS TO ISABELLA 311
tell Your Signory that she behaved not as a child,
but as a very prudent lady. The Duke leaves here
on Monday, and goes to Viterbo." Mantua, 26th
August 1508.
The young Duke was eighteen years of age
and had already distinguished himself as a gallant
soldier, but gave signs of that violent temper for
which he was famous in after days. Only a few
months before, he had stabbed one of Duke Guido-
baldo's favourite cavaliers with his own hand, because
the unfortunate young man aspired to the hand of
his widowed sister, Maria Varana.^ But he always
behaved with the greatest deference to his widowed
aunt, and was anxious to acquire the good graces of
his bride's parents. He sent the Marquis a scimitar
which had belonged to the lamented King Ferrante
II. of Naples, and presented Isabella with a set of
costly trappings for a horse which had been the
property of Csesav Borgia, saying he knew that she
was not only fond of driving in a chariot and riding
mules, but was an excellent horsewoman, and thought
that she might relish a share " in the spoils of one
who knew not how to make use of his good fortune." ^
Leonora was by this time a lovely maiden of fourteen
summers, whose beauty was already the theme of
courtiers and poets, and whose riper charms Titian's
brush was to render immortal in years to come. The
little daughter who was born to her mother that
August received the name of Livia Osanna, after her
lamented friend the Beata Osanna. The body of this
holy nun had been taken up a few weeks before, in the
Marchesa's presence, and after being exposed to the
1 Dennistoun, op. cit., ii. 305.
2 Luzio e Renier, Mantova e Urbino, pp. 186, 187.
312 PAOLA GONZAGA
veneration of the public for a whole day, had been
solemnly interred in the beautiful Area designed by
Cristoforo Romano, in San Domenico. This second
Livia was vowed to the cloister from her infancy,
and became a Poor Clare in the convent of Santa
Paola, or Corpus Domenico. Here the Emperor
Charles V. himself came to see her, and the fame
of her sanctity attracted many illustrious visitors.
Sister Paola, which name the princess adopted on
taking the veil, is mentioned more than once in her
mother's correspondence, and several letters which
she herself addressed to her cousin Duke Ercole of
Ferrara and his wife Ren^e are preserved in the
Gonzaga archives, and were published by Ferrato.
In November Isabella went to Ferrara, where she
still found a warm welcome from her brother Alfonso,
in spite of the family quarrels which saddened her
home, and the coolness between her and la Diva
Borgia, as Lucrezia was styled by flattering poets
and courtiers. But two of her oldest friends were
missing. Ercole Strozzi, the accomplished Latin poet
and intimate friend of Bembo, whose house was often
honoured by Isabella's presence, and who himself
frequently came to Mantua, had been foully mur-
dered in cold blood one summer day when he left his
house to take an early walk and enjoy the morning
air. His wife, the beautiful Barbara ToreUi, had
only given birth to her first child a fortnight before,
and now wrote " with streaming tears and broken
heart " to tell her friends at Mantua the sad news.
The murdered man was buried with great pomp, and
the learned humanist, Celio Calcagneni, pronounced an
eloquent oration over the corpse of his gifted friend.
" Great is the sorrow we all feel here," wrote Bernardo
DEATH OF NICCOLO DA CORREGGIO 313
dei Prosper! to Isabella — "most of all, because he
was so rare and excellent a man of letters." Not
a word was said as to the murderer, but it was
generally known in Ferrara that Alfonso d'Este had
long been jealous of Barbara ToreUi's preference for
Ercole, and had secretly planned his destruction.
Before Strozzi's death, the Marquis of Mantua had
promised to stand godfather to his new-born
daughter, and now sent the poet Tebaldeo to repre-
sent him at the christening.
Something of the same mystery overshadowed
the fate of Isabella's briUiant kinsman, Niccolo da
Correggio, who died in January 1508, at Ferrara, away
from his own house — to the bitter grief of his wife,
Cassandra CoUeoni. In her letter of condolence, Isa-
bella expressed her pity for this poor Madonna,
and alluded covertly to some love intrigues in
which her old friend had been unhappily entangled.
Only a year before, Alfonso had presented Niccolo
with a fine palace in the Via degli Angeli, which had
formerly belonged to his unhappy brother Giulio, in
recognition of his services in discovering that prince's
plot against the Duke's life. And in February 1507,
he wrote to the Marchesa in his old strain, telling her
how eagerly her coming was awaited at Ferrara, and
how busy he was preparing masquerades for her
amusement. The Duke, he added, was longing to
see his sister, and confidently expected her to spend
the next two months at his court. But soon after
this the old courtier incurred his lord's displeasure,
and Bernardo dei Prosperi, in a letter informing
Isabella that Signor Niccolo was at the point of
death, ascribes his melancholy condition to grief at
his disgrace. " His case," adds Bernardo, " has been
814 ISABELLA ASKS HIS SON
pronounced hopeless by seven doctors, and in this
miserable end we must plainly see the judgment of a
just God." ^
No sooner did Isabella hear of her old friend's
death than she wrote to his son Giangaleazzo, desir-
ing him to send her the MS. volume of poems which
his father had dedicated to her many years ago.
Giangaleazzo replied courteously, begging for time to
make certain corrections which his father had been
unable to finish. Upon this, the Marchesa sent him
a long letter, couched in her most imperious tones,^
telling him that she could bring witnesses to prove
how, at the time of Alfonso's wedding to his first
wife, Anna Sforza, his father Niccolo, being in the
room above the court chapel, showed her his book in
three parts, containing sonnets, capituli, and canzoni,
with an epistle dedicating each in turn to herself.
" This," she goes on to say, " he confirmed again
when he was with me in my villa of Sacchetta, at the
time of Don Giulio's affair, saying that, in asking me
to be the patroness of his book, he resembled those
persons who, in order to keep their house clean,
paint a saint upon the outer walls." Then, lapsing
into a gentler and more pathetic strain, Isabella
recalled the long familiarity and friendship which she
had enjoyed with his father long before he was l?orn,
and which dated back to her earliest childhood, and
ended by desiring him to send the precious MS.
without delay by the present courier.^
Giangaleazzo now sent a servant to Mantua with
fresh excuses and explanations. The MS. which his
1 Luzio e Renier in Giom. St. d. Lett. It., xxiii. 77.
2 D'Arco, Notizie d' Isabella, p. 315.
^ Luzio e Renier, op. cit. 79-
FOR NICCOLO'S POEMS 315
father had shown her was, he explained, not worthy
of her acceptance, being marked in certain places,
and not as elegantly bound as Niccolo himself would
have desired, so that he must beg her to wait a
little longer. To these excuses the Marchesa paid
little heed, beyond sending the writer a curt note,
sajring that, no doubt, his father being the most
generous of men, would have wished to adorn the
book before he presented it to her. Since he was
unfortunately no more, she must request Giangaleazzo
to forward the volume, which, as he is evidently
aware, had been promised to her.
But the book never came, and in August, Mario
Equicola, Isabella's confidential servant, wrote from
Ferrara, telling her that Duchess Lucrezia was going
to Correggio to obtain Messer Niccolo's canzoniere, a
piece of information which roused Isabella's ire to
the highest pitch. However, Giangaleazzo managed
to evade Lucrezia's request with equal success, and, as
the best way out of the difficulty, kept his father's
canzoniere in his own hands. We have another
proof of the rivalry which existed between Isabella
and her sister-in-law in a letter,^ written by Mario
in August 1508, teUing her that, in looking over the
MSS. of his friend Ercole Strozzi, he had discovered
a Latin epigram, originally written for the Sleeping
Cupid of Isabella's Grotta, which had been altered
and adapted to fit a marble Cupid belonging to
Duchess Lucrezia. " This," he adds, "is in reality
a very inferior modern work, but her flatterers
pretend that it is a genuine antique 1 " In conclusion,
the excellent secretary proposes his readiness to go
to the stake, if need be, in order to maintain the
1 A. LuziOj / Precettori, p. 43.
316 LUCREZIA AND ISABELLA
truth, and prove to all the world that Ercole Strozzi's
verses were originally written in honour of the
Sleeping Cupid in the Isabellian Grotta, and in-
scribed to his own Madonna Marchesana. So keen
was the competition of these great ladies for the
tribute paid them by scholars and poets, so highly
did they prize the honour of seeing their own names
linked with these Latin verses which were to
perpetuate their fame for all time. Tantum possunt
camoence. " Such power have the Muses ! "
CHAPTER XVIII
1500—1506
Isabella's relations with painters during the early years of the
sixteenth century — Her letters to Leonardo da Vinci — Corre-
spondence with Fra Pietro da Novellara, Angelo del Tovaglia,
Manfredi, and Amadori — She asks Perugino for a painting for
her studio — Description of the Triumph of Chastity composed
by Paride da Ceresara — Perugino's delays — Correspondence
with Malatesta, Tovaglia, <fec.
We have seen how, in the closing years of the fifteenth
century, Isabella founded her famous studio of the
Grotta, in the ancient portion of the Castello known
as the Corte Vecchia, and began to collect works of
art for its adornment. In spite of the many distrac-
tions which occupied her time and thoughts, in spite
of her husband's absence, and the active part which
she took in public affairs, she pursued this object
with unremitting energy and perseverance.
Never at any period of her life were her relations
with artists more frequent and more full of interest
than in these first ten years of the new century.
Andrea Mantegna, the court painter of the Gonzagas,
as we have already said, executed the first pictures for
the decoration of her new studio. And naturally
enough the great Florentine master who had visited
Mantua at the close of 1499, and drawn her portrait,
was one of the next artists to whom she applied.
After Leonardo's return to Florence in April 1500,
he sent the Marquis a sketch of the house of Angelo
317
318 ISABELLA'S CORRESPONDENCE
del Tovaglia, a wealthy merchant whom Francesco
often employed on business matters, and which he
had greatly admired on a visit which he paid to
Florence that spring.
" I send you," wrote the Mantuan agent, Francesco
Malatesta, in August, " a drawing of the house of
Angelo Tovaglia, by the hand of your servant
Leonardo Vinci, who desires to be commended both
to you and to Madonna. But he said that to make
the house perfect, and satisfy your idea, you would
have to transport the site of Messer Angelo's house
to the spot where you intend to build. The drawing
has not been coloured, nor have I thought it necessary
to put in the evergreens, ivy, box, cypresses and laurels
of the garden, but if you vnsh it, the said Leonardo
offers to send you a painting as well as a model of
the villa." ^
The birth of Isabella's son, and the political
troubles of that anxious year, prevented her from
availing herself of Leonardo's offers of service at the
time, but in the following March she wrote the follow-
ing letter to the cultured ecclesiastic, Fra Pietro da
NoveUara, who was at the time preaching a course
of Lent sermons in Santa Croce of Florence : —
" Most Reverend Father in God, — If Leonardo,
the Florentine painter, is now in Florence, we beg
you will inform us what kind of life he is leading,
that is to say if he has begun any work, as we have
been told, and what this work is, and if you think
that he wiU remain for the present in Florence.
Your Reverence might find out if he would under-
take to paint a picture for our studio. If he consents,
we would leave the subject and the time to him ; but
1 Luzio in Emporium, 19OO, p. 353.
WITH LEONARDO DA VINCI 319
if he declines, you might at least induce him to paint
us a little picture of the Madonna, as sweet and holy
as his own nature. WiU you also beg him to send
us another drawing of our portrait, since our illustrious
lord has given away the one which he left here ? For
all of which we shall be no less grateful to you than
to Leonardo." Mantua, March 27, 1501.
TheCarmehte Vicar-General replied without delay :
" Most illustrious and excellent Lady, — I have
just received Your Excellency's letter, and wiU obey
your orders with the utmost speed and diligence. But,
from what I hear, Leonardo's manner of life is very ^
changeable and uncertain, so that he seems to live for
the day only. Since he has been in Florence, he has
only made one sketch — a cartoon of a child Christ,
about a year old, almost jumping out of his mother's
arms to seize hold of a lamb. The mother is in the
act of rising from S. Anna's lap, and holds back the
child from the lamb, an innocent creature, which is a
symbol of the Passion, while S. Anna, partly rising
from her seat, seems anxious to restrain her daughter,
which may be a tjrpe of the Church, who would not
hinder the Passion of Christ. These figures are as
large as life, but are drawn on a small cartoon, because
they are represented either seated or bending down,
and one stands a little in front of the other, towards
the left. And this sketch is not yet finished. He
has done nothing else, excepting that two of his
apprentices are painting portraits to which he some-
times adds a few touches. He is working hard at
geometry, and is quite tired of painting. I only write
this that Your Excellency may know I have re-
ceived your letters. I wiU do your commission, and
let you know the result very soon, and may God
320 CARTOON FOR THE SERVI
keep you in His grace. — Your obedient servant, Fr.
Petrus Novellara, Carm. Vic-Gen."^ Florence,
April 3, 1501.
The letter is of great importance, both as showing
Leonardo's absorption in geometrical studies, and
giving a description of the famous cartoon which
he drew for the Servi friars, and which not only
filled all the artists with admiration, but brought
crowds of men and women to the convent hall,
where this masterpiece was exhibited during two
days. " The whole city was stirred," wrote Vasari,
" and you might have fancied that you saw a pro-
cession on some solemn feast day." And Girolamo
da Casio, the Bologna poet, with whom Isabella was
in constant correspondence, wrote a sonnet on the
cartoon which had moved all Florence to wonder.
Ten days later the Carmelite friar wrote again to
tell Isabella the result of his efforts : — '
" This Holy Week I have succeeded in learning
the painter Leonardo's intentions by means of his
pupil, Salai, and some of his other friends, who, to
make them more fully known to me, took me to
see him on Wednesday in Holy Week. In truth,
his mathematical experiments have absorbed his
thoughts so entirely that he cannot bear the sight
of a paint-brush. But I endeavoured as skilfully
as I could to inform him of Your Excellency's wish.
Then, finding him well disposed to gratify you, I
spoke frankly to him on the subject, and we came
to this conclusion : if he can, as he hopes, end his
engagement with the King of France without dis-
pleasing him by the end of a month at latest, he
would rather serve Your Excellency than any other
1 Luzio, / Precettori, A pp.
LEONARDO'S MADONNA 321
person in the world. But, in any case, as soon as
he has fuiished a httle picture which he is painting
for a certain Robertet, a favourite of the King of
France, he will do your portrait immediately and
send it to ydu. I left two good petitioners with him.
The httle picture which he is painting is a Madonna,
seated as if at work with her spindle, while the Child,
with His foot on the basket of spindles, has taken up
the winder, and looks attentively on the four rays
in the shape of a cross, as if wishing for the cross,
and holds it tight, laughing, and refusing to give
it to His mother, who tries in vain to take it from
Him. This is aU I have been able to settle with the
master. I preached my sermon yesterday. God grant
it may bring forth much fruit, for the hearers were
numerous. I commend myself to Your Excellency.
— Frateb, Petrus de Novellara." Florence, April
14, 1501."^
Leonardo's promises, however, remained as usual
unfulfilled, and hearing no more of her Madonna, or
portrait, in July Isabella wrote to Manfredo de
Manfredi, her father's envoy at Florence, begging
him to dehver a letter which she had written into
the master's own hands.
On the 30th, Manfredi replied : —
" I have given Your Excellency's letter to Leo-
nardo, the Florentine. I dehvered it myself into his
own hands, teUing him that I would take charge of
^ This letter is quoted by M. Muntz, "Leonardo da Vinci," ii.
121 ; but the date of April 10, 1503, which he borrows from Calvi's
life of the master, is clearly wrong. D. Richter and Signor Solmi
give April 4, 1501, as the correct date ; but since Easter Day fell
on the 11th of April in that year, Wednesday in Holy Week
must have been the 7th, and the letter was probably written on
the 14th.
VOL. I. X
322 LORENZO DEI MEDICI'S VASES
any letter which he might wish to send in answer,
and would see that it was faithfully delivered to you.
Leonardo replied that he would send an answer
shortly, and hoped to be able to obhge Your Ex-
cellency. But, since no letter came, I sent again
to ask his intentions, and he rephed that all he
could say for the moment was that I might send
you word that he had begun to do what Your
Highness desired. This is all that I have been able
to obtain from the said Leonardo."
A few months later, on the 3rd of May 1502,
Isabella, hearing that certain vases which had be-
longed to Lorenzo dei Medici were for sale, wrote
to her agent, Francesco Malatesta, desiring him to
show these vases to some competent person, "such,
for instance, as Leonardo, the painter, who used to
live at Milan, and is a friend of ours, if he is in
Florence, and consult him as to theii* beauty and
quality." This was a task quite to Leonardo's taste,
and he did not hesitate to give the Marchesa the
benefit of his opinion on the precious vases.
" I have shown them to Leonardo Vinci, the
painter," wrote Malatesta on the 12th of May, "as
Your Highness desired. He praises all of them, but
especially the crystal vase, which is all of one piece
and very fine, and has a silver-gilt stand and cover ;
and Leonardo says that he never saw a finer thing.
The agate one also pleases him, because it is
a rare thing and of large size, and is all in one
piece, excepting the stand ■ and cover, which are
silver-gilt ; but it is cracked. That of amethyst, or,
as Leonardo calls it, of jasper, is transparent and
of variegated colours, and has a massive gold stand,
studded with so many pearls and rubies that they
PRAISED BY LEONARDO 323
are valued at 150 ducats. This greatly pleased Leo-
nardo, as being something quite new, and exquisite
in colour. All four have Lorenzo Medici's name
engraved in Roman letters on the body of the vase,
and are valued at a very high price : the crystal
vase, at 350 ducats ; the jasper vase, set with gems,
at 240 ducats ; the agate vase, at 200 ducats ; and the
jasper vase, on a plain silver stand, at 150 ducats."^
At the same time Malatesta enclosed coloured
drawings of the four vases, in order that Isabella
might make her choice, only regretting that it was
impossible for any painter to reproduce the beautiful
lustre which charmed the eyes of Leonardo.
The prices of those rare works of art were
probably beyond the Marchesa's means in this ex-
pensive year, when Lucrezia Borgia's wedding and
her visit to ^''enice had exhausted her treasury, but
Leonardo's praises must have fiUed her with longing
to add them to her collection. She had not yet
given up all hope of obtaining a picture from the
Florentine master, and two years afterwards, when
Leonardo was at work on the cartoon of the Battle
of Anghiari for the Council HaU in the Palazzo
Pubblico, this indefatigable princess once more re-
turned to the charge. This time she wrote a
charming letter to Leonardo, which she sent to the
merchant Angelo del Tovaglia, whose villa had
excited the envy of the Marquis some years before,
and who was now engaged in conducting negotiations
on her part with Perugino.
"Since we desire exceedingly," she wrote to
Angelo on the 14th of May 1504, "to have some
work by the hand of Leonardo Vinci, whom we
1 Luzio, Arch. Star, dell' Arte, i. 181.
324 ISABELLA'S EFFORTS
know both by reputation and by personal experience
to be a most excellent painter, we have asked him,
in the enclosed letter, to paint us a youthful Christ
of about twelve years old. Do not scruple to present
this letter to him, adding whatever words may seem
to you most suitable, so as to persuade him to serve
us ; and let him know that he shall be well rewarded.
If he excuses himself and says that he has not time,
owing to the work which he has begun for that most
excellent Signory, you can tell him that this will be
a means of recreation and pleasure when he is tired
of historical painting, and that for the rest he can take
his own time, and work at leisure."
The letter which Isabella sent to Leonardo was
as foUows : —
" To Master Leonardo Vinci, the painter. M.
Leonardo, — Hearing that you are settled at Flor-
ence, we have begun to hope that our cherished desire
to obtain a work by your hand may be at length
realised. When you were in this city, and drew our
portrait in carbon, you promised us that you would
some day paint it in colours. But because this would
be almost impossible, since you are unable to come
here, we beg you to keep your promise by converting
our portrait into another figure, which would be still
more acceptable to us ; that is to say, a youthful
Christ of about twelve years, which would be the
age He had attained when He disputed with the
doctors in the temple, executed with all that sweet-
ness and charm of atmosphere which is the peculiar
excellence of your art. If you wiU consent to gratify
this our great desire, remember that apart from the
payment, which you shall fix yourself, we shall remain
so deeply obhged to you that our sole desire will be to
TO OBTAIN A PICTURE 325
do what you wish, and from this time forth we are ready
to do your service and pleasure, hoping to receive an
answer in the affirmative." Mantua, May 14, 1504.
On the 27th of May, Angelo del Tovagha
replied : —
"I received the letter of Your Highness, to-
gether with the one for Leonardo da ^'^inci, to
whom I presented it, and at the same time tried to
persuade and induce him, with powerful reasons, to
obUge Your Excellency by painting the little figure
of Christ, according to your request. He has
promised me without fail to paint it in such times
and hours as he can snatch from the work on which
he is engaged for this Signory. I wiU not fail to
entreat Leonardo, and also Perugino, as to the other
subject. Both make liberal promises, and seem to
have the greatest wish to serve Your Highness.
Nevertheless, I think it will be a race between
them which is the slower ! I hardly know which
of the two is likely to win, but expect Leonardo
will be the conqueror. All the same, I will do my
utmost."
Angelo's prophecy was destined to be fulfilled to
the letter. More than a year passed away before
Perugino's picture found its way to Mantua, while
neither the honest merchant's entreaties nor the
charming Marchesa's honeyed words were able to
move Leonardo to action. Once more, on the 30th
of October, Isabella wrote to Angelo, with a second
letter to Leonardo, gently reminding him of his
promise.
"You sent me word by Messer Angelo some
time ago that you would gladly satisfy my great
desire. But the large number of orders which you
326 FROM LEONARDO
receive make me fear lest you have forgotten mine.
I have, therefore, thought it well to write these few
words, begging you to paint this little figure by
way of recreation when you are tired of Florentine
history."
Still the master, intent as he was on painting his
great picture on the wall of the Council Hall, gave
no sign of life. But in January his favourite pupil,
Salai, offered his services to the Marchesa, and pro-
fessed his readiness to paint some cosa galante for
Her Excellency. His offer was not accepted, but a
few months later Isabella desired Angelo del Tovaglia
to send Salai to judge of the merits of the picture
which Perugino had at length finished for her studio,
and, if necessary, suggest alterations.
In March 1506, Isabella herself came to Florence,
as we have seen, and spent the Feast of the An-
nunciation in the city of flowers. She did not see
her friend Leonardo, who was studying the cause of
rivers and the flight of birds in his country retreat at
Fiesole. But she met his uncle, Alessandro Amadori,
the Canon of Fiesole, with whom so much of his
time was spent, and for whom he cherished a deep
and lasting affection. To this courteous ecclesiastic
the Marchesa confided her great wish to obtain a
little picture from the hand of the famous master,
and he promised to use all his influence to induce
his nephew to satisfy her ardent desire. On the
3rd of May, a week or two after she had returned
to Mantua, Alessandro wrote to her as follows : —
" Here, in Florence, I act at aU hours as the
representative of Your Excellency, with Leonardo
da Vinci, my nephew, and I do not cease to urge
him by every argument in my power to satisfy the
HIS UNCLE'S LETTERS 327
desire of Your Excellency, and paint the figure for
which you asked him, and which he promised you
several months ago, in the letter that I showed Your
Excellency. This time he has really promised me
that he will soon begin the work and satisfy your
wish, and desires me to commend him to your
favour. And if, before I leave Florence, you will
teU me whether you prefer any especial figure, I will
take care that Leonardo satisfies Your Highness,
whom it is my greatest wish to oblige. I visited
Madonna Argentina Soderini this afternoon, and she
was glad to hear from me that Your Highness had
reached Mantua safely. I gave her Your Highness's
messages, and she sends the enclosed note in return.
May God prosper Your Excellency." ^
The Marchesa wrote back gratefully on the 12th
of May from Sacchetta, where she had been driven
by the sudden outbreak of the plague in Mantua : —
" We were very grateful for your letter of the 3rd,
telling us that you had conveyed our inquiries to the
Signora Gonfalionera, as we learn by a letter from
Her Highness ; neither are we less pleased with the
dexterity which you have shown in deahng with
Leonardo Vinci, in order to induce him to satisfy
us and paint that figure for which we asked. We
thank you for all your trouble, and beg you to
persevere in your kind efforts on our behalf."^
But before the end of May, Leonardo left
Florence to enter the service of Charles dAmboise,
the French Governor of Milan, and spent over a year
in that city, at the express request of King Louis,
1 Luzio in Arch. Stor. dell' Arte, i. 181-184.
^Yriarte, Gazette d. B. Arts, 1888; Muntz, "Leonardo da
Vinci," ii. 113 ; Solmi, " Leonardo," p. 159.
328 HER CORRESPONDENCE
who himself came to Milan for six weeks in 1508,
and begged that notre chier et bien ame Leonard de
Vinces should be allowed to remain at his court.
There Isabella probably met him when she spent that
joyous fortnight at Milan, and renewed her acquaint-
ance with so many of her old friends. But he never
painted her picture, and the only work by Leonardo's
hand in the Gonzaga collection was a small painting
afterwards given to her son Federico by Count
Niccolo MafFei, after his return from France. This
work is described in the inventory of 1627 as " a
woman's head, with dishevelled hair," valued at 180
ducats, and hung in a passage leading to the Studio
of the Grotta.^
Isabella was more fortunate in her dealings with
other painters, and ultimately succeeded in obtaining
a picture for her studio from Perugino, although
this artist's delays and prevarications provoked her
sorely. The Umbrian master enjoyed a great
reputation in North Italy at the close of the
fifteenth century. He had painted noble altar-
pieces at Cremona and the Certosa of Pavia, and
Duke Lodovico Sforza had repeatedly invited him to
enter his service, and decorate his rooms in the
Castello of Milan. Perugino was well known at the
court of Mantua, since his young wife, Chiara, was
a daughter of Luca Fancelli, the well-known archi-
tect, who had spent forty years in the service of the
Gonzagas. When the painter was at Venice in
1496, Isabella asked him, through his friend, Lor-
enzo da Pavia, to paint a picture for her studio.
But her request came too late, for by this
time Perugino had left Venice, and was busily
1 D'Arco, Arte e Artefici, ii. l6l.
WITH PERUGINO 329
engaged in painting his great altar-pieces at Florence
and Perugia. Accordingly, in 1500, Isabella wrote
to Giovanna della Rovere, the sister of Duke Guido-
baldo of Urbino, and mother of her future son-in-
law, Francesco Maria, saying how much she desired
to obtain a poesia for her studio from Perugino, and
begging this lady to use her influence with the painter.
The Prefettessa, however, was not encouraging.
Perugino, it was true, had lately painted a series of
frescoes at Sinigaglia, but was reluctant to accept
orders, and very slow in executing them. Moreover,
he would be sure to raise difficulties as to the subject
of the picture, and did not care to paint compositions
of this kind. The issue proved Giovanna to have
been right, but Isabella was not easily discouraged,
and two years and a half later she wrote to Francesco
Malatesta, desiring him to approach Perugino on the
subject.^
" Since we desire," she wrote in September 1502,
"to have in our camerino paintings of allegorical
subjects by the best painters in Italy, among whom
II Perugino is famous, we beg you to see him and
find out, through the intervention of some friend, if
he is willing to accept the task of painting a picture
on a storia or invention which we will give him, with
small-sized figures, such as those which you have
seen in our camerino. You wiU find out what
payment he requires, and if he can set to work soon,
in which case we will send him the measurements of
the picture with onv fantasia. And be sure to send
me a prompt answer."
1 W. Braghirolli, Notisie e documenti inediti intorno a P. Van-
nucchi, from the Archivio Gmzaga ; and C. Yriarte, Gazette des Beaux
Arts, 1895.
330 PERUGINO'S PROMISES
At first Malatesta gave the Marchesa little hope of
success. Perugino, he told her, was a man fertile in
excuses and difficult to deal with, and he advised her
to employ Filippino Lippi or Sandro Botticelli in his
stead. But Isabella insisted that he should begin by
approaching Perugino. The first interview proved
satisfactory, and Perugino, tempted by the Marchesa's
hberal offer of 100 ducats, promised to paint a
fantasia for her studio, within the next few months,
on any subject that she liked to choose. Two months
afterwards Capilupi sent a letter to another agent in
Florence, Vincenzo Bolzano, desiring him to give
Perugino a paper with fuU details of the subject,
drawn up by Isabella's favourite humanist, Paride da
Ceresara, and at the same time obtain his formal
agreement to the contract. If the painter agreed to
Isabella's conditions, the size of the picture and a
sketch of the composition were to be given him,
and 20 ducats were to be paid in advance. " The
Marchesa," adds the secretary, " desires that the
picture should be painted on canvas, like Mantegna's
compositions, and recommends the master to use the
greatest care and dihgence, but this, no doubt, will
be superfluous, since Her Excellency feels certain
that Perugino will not wish his work to be unworthy
of his fame, especially as it will have to bear com-
parison with Mantegna's paintings."
The contract was duly signed, the money paid
down, and the Marchesa's programme handed to the
painter. This curious document, which both M.
Muntz ^ and M. Yriarte ^ reproduce in full, shows how
minute were the directions which painters received
1 Histoire de I' Art pendant la Renaissance, ii. 62.
2 Gazette d. B. Arts, 1895.
ISABELLA'S ORDERS 331
from the poets and humanists of the day, and how
little freedom in the choice of subject was allowed
them by their patrons. Isabella, no doubt, went too
far in this direction, and the best painters felt their
imagination cramped by her minute instructions.
Mantegna, whose genius overcame all difficulties, pro-
bably moulded the material to suit his fancy, and
certainly succeeded best in the paintings which he
executed for her studio. Giovanni Bellini, as we
shall see, quite refused to paint the subject assigned
to him, and Perugino found the theme little suited
to his art, and failed to satisfy her. Nor is his failure
surprising when we read her directions.
" My poetic invention, which I wish to see you
paint, is the Battle of Love and Chastity — that is to
say, Pallas and Diana fighting against Venus and
Love. Pallas must appear to have almost vanquished
Love. After breaking his golden arrow and silver
bow, and flinging them at her feet, she holds the blind-
fold boy with one hand by the handkerchief which he
wears over his eyes, and lifts her lance to strike him
with the other. The issue of the conflict between
Diana and Venus must appear more doubtful. Venus's
crown, garland and veil will only have been slightly
damaged, while Diana's raiment will have been singed
by the torch of Venus, but neither of the goddesses
will have received any wound. Behind these four
divinities, the chaste nymphs in the train of Pallas
and Diana will be seen engaged in a fierce conflict —
in such ways as you can best imagine — with the
lascivious troop of fauns, satyrs, and thousands of
little loves. These last will be smaller than the
god Cupid, and will carry neither gold bows nor
silver arrows, but darts of some baser material —
332 DESIGN FOR A FANTASIA
either wood or iron, as you please. In order to give
full expression to the fable and adorn the scene,
the olive tree sacred to PaUas will rise out of the
ground at her side, with a shield bearing the head of
Medusa, and the owl, which is her emblem, wiU be
seen in the branches of the tree. At the side of
Venus, her favourite myrtle tree will flower, and
to heighten the beauty of the picture, a landscape
should be introduced with a river or the sea in
the distance. Fauns, satyrs, and loves will be seen
hastening to the help of Cupid — some flying through
the air, others swimming on the waves or borne on
the wings of white swans, but all alike eager to take
part in the Battle of Love. On the banks of the
river, or on the shore of the sea, Jupiter will be seen
in his character as the enemy of Chastity, changed
into the bull that carries off" the fair Europa. Among
the gods attending on him. Mercury will appear
flying like an eagle over Glaucera, the nymph of
Pallas, who will bear a small cistus engraved with
the attributes of the goddess ; Polyphemus, the one-
eyed Cyclops, will be seen chasing Galatea ; Phoebus
in pursuit of Daphne, who is already changing into
a laurel ; Pluto carrying off Persephone to the infernal
realm, and Neptune about to seize Coronis at the
moment she is metamorphosed into a raven. I send
you aU these incidents, in a small drawing, which
may help you to understand my explanations. If
you think there are too many figures, you can reduce
the number, as long as the chief ones remain — I mean
Pallas, Diana, Venus, and Love — but you are for-
bidden to introduce anything of your own invention."
This was the elaborate and intricate composition
which Perugino, the painter of Madonnas and Saints
DETAILS OF THE COMPOSITION 333
with angelic faces and seraphic expression, was now
required to paint. Anything less suited to his genius
it would have been hard to find. The subjects which
he generally represented were of the simplest kind ;
the figures were few and for the most part in repose.
He could paint a sweet-faced Madonna looking down
on her Babe, a Saint with upturned eyes and rapt
expression standing at the foot of the Cross, even
a nude Apollo serenely confident of victory, but this
crowded canvas, with its multitude of figures, fighting
and chasing each other, was altogether beyond his
powers. We can hardly wonder that he showed
considerable reluctance to attack the subject. First
one excuse was suggested, then another, to account
for his protracted delays. But every letter which
Isabella received from her different agents in Florence
told the same tale. Perugino had not even attempted
to begin a sketch of the composition. At length
even the Marchesa's patience became exhausted, and
she sent Angelo del TovagUa to demand an explanation
from the painter. Upon which Perugino declared
that he was doubtful as to the size of the figures, and
begged for exact measurements of the personages
in the foreground of Mantegna's picture. These
Isabella sent him, with the following note, on the
12th of January 1504 : —
"Excellent Friend, — The enclosed paper, with
the thread wound round it, gives the length of the
biggest figure on M. Andrea Mantegna's pictures,
close to which your own will hang. The other
figures behind can be of any size that you like. You
will know now how to act. Above aU, we beg you
to be quick with the work, for the sooner we can
have it, the better we shaU be pleased."
334 PERUGINO'S DELAYS
Five weeks later, some alterations having been
made in the lighting and arrangement of the studio,
Isabella sent fresh directions for the painter's benefit.
StiU Angelo was unable to report progress, and in
April, Isabella wrote indignantly, demanding Perugino
to restore her twenty ducats, if his picture were not
ready in a month's time, and telling Tovaglia to appeal
to the Gonfaloniere in case of the master's refusal to
refund the money. After writing this angry letter,
the Marchesa apparently thought better of it, and
sent a young Mantuan painter, Lorenzo Leombruno,
to Florence, with a letter of recommendation to
Perugino, desiring him to report on the state of the
picture, and, if it were not yet begun, to claim her
ducats. But when Leombruno reached Florence, at
the end of April, Perugino had gone to Umbria, and
did not return till the following autumn. Then,
however, he professed the greatest anxiety to fulfil
his obligations to the Marchesa, and Isabella sent him
the following letter on the 81st of October, the same
day on which she wrote to Leonardo asking him to
paint a Christ : —
" Perusino, — We have seen, by two letters which
you wrote to M. Angelo Tovaglia, that you hope
soon to finish our Storia, which gives us great plea-
sure. But, as we feel the greatest impatience in the
world to see it, we beg that you will finish it and let
us have it as soon as possible. Farewell."
In point of fact, the picture had only just been
sketched out on the canvas, as we learn from Agostino
Strozza, the cultured Abbot of Fiesole, who, at
Tovaglia's suggestion, visited Perugino's shop, and
sent his report to Isabella early in November. Yet
another agent was employed by the impatient
ABBOT STROZZA CALLED IN 335
Marchesa, in the person of Luigi Ciocca, who pro-
mised Isabella to pay the patriarch, as he called
him, frequent visits, and accepted the commission
the more readily because of the lovely maidens
whom he found sitting as models to the painter.
Perugino now pleaded poverty in excuse for his
delays, saying that he lived from hand to mouth,
and was compelled to do work which brought him
ready money, and put off other commissions, but
promised to finish the Marchesa's picture by Easter.
When, however, Ciocca ventured to criticise the
drawing of certain fauns in the picture, Perugino
replied with so much arrogance that Ciocca's anger
was roused, and he would have giveri him a rude
answer if it had not been for the presence of the
maidens. This remark alarmed Isabella, who wrote
at once to Abbot Strozza, upon whose judgment in
artistic matters she could rely, begging him to in-
spect Perugino's drawing, as she would rather give
up the picture than have one which neither did her
nor the painter honour. Leonardo's pupil, Salai, was
now called in to give his opinion, as Ciocca explains
in the following letter : —
"Most illustrious Madonna, — To-day the Reve-
rend Abbot of Fiesole and I spent some time with
Perugino, and told him our opinion of the work,
and succeeded in persuading him to carry it swiftly
to perfection, so much so that he has promised to use
the greatest art, diligence, and attention to satisfy
his honour and duty, and meet your wishes. I am
also glad to tell you that a pupil of Leonardo Vinci,
Salai by name, young in years but very talented,
whom I sent to Perugino, praises the fantasia
greatly, and has corrected some of the small defects
336 SALAii OFFERS HIS SERVICES
which the abbot and I had pointed out. We will
continue to do our utmost, in order that Your Ex-
cellency may be satisfied. This Salai has a great
wish to do some gallant thing for Your Excellency
himself, so if you desire a little picture, or anything
else from him, you have only to tell me the price
you are ready to give, and I will see that you are
pleased. — Your servant, Aloisius Ciocca."^ Flo-
rence, Jan. 22, 1505.
At Salai's suggestion the artist rectified certain
errors of drawing which satisfied Ciocca, who told
the abbot that he thought the picture was as good as
could be expected from Perugino, who excelled in
the treatment of larger forms, but had little ex-
perience in handling small-sized figures and crowded
compositions. Another point which disturbed Isa-
bella considerably was that she heard Perugino had
represented Venus as a nude figure, contrary to her
express directions. This, she told the abbot, must
not be allowed, since, if one single figure were altered,
the whole meaning of the fable would be ruined.^
When the Marchesa's letter reached Fiesole, the
abbot hastened to Perugino's shop, but it was only
to find that the painter had left Florence. " I can-
not understand the man's behaviour," he wrote to
Isabella on the 22nd of February 1505, " and begin
to fear he will prove me to be a liar. I find it is
already a fortnight since he left Florence, and I
cannot discover where he has hidden himself, and
when he is likely to return. His wife and friends
either do not know where he is or else they are
hiding it from me, probably because, contrary to all
his promises, he has undertaken some other work.
1 BraghiroUi, op. cit. ^ Yriarte, op. cit.
PERUGINO LEAVES FLORENCE 337
Not a day passes without my sending to inquire of
him, and as long as he was working at the picture
I called at least once a week. Perhaps a fresh ad-
vance of money might fire his zeal ; but he is an
unaccountable fellow, who does not seem to see any
difference between one person and another. I never
met a man in whom art can accomplish such great
things, where nature has done so little." This con-
trast between the ideal beauty of Perugino's creations
and the baseness of his conduct, his unscrupulous
behaviour and greed for money, seems to have been
felt by aU who came in contact with the great Um-
brian master, and agrees with Vasari's unfavourable
estimate of his character.
A month later the abbot told Isabella that Peru-
gino was still absent, but that, as he now discovered,
he had gone to Perugia, and was detained there by a
lawsuit on behalf of a friend. In reality the master
had accepted a commission to paint a fresco at his
native town of Citta della Pieve, which, after much
bargaining, he executed in March 1505 (O.S. 1504).
He went on to paint a S. Sebastian at the neigh-
bouring town of Panicale, and did^ not return to
Florence until the beginning of May, when Ciocca
upbraided him with the shameful way in which he
had treated the Marchesa. " Upon which," writes
Ciocca, "he declared, as usual, that he was sorely
pressed for money, and muttered between his teeth
that he knew he should be left with the picture on
his back, and have to wait for his ducats. I told
him to remember that he was not dealing with men
of Spoleto or the March, but with a Marchioness
of Mantua, a generous lady, who showed the highest
appreciation of all that was good and beautiful, and,
VOL. I. Y
338 THE TRIUMPH OF CHASTITY
above all, of works of art. Let him only finish his
picture, and make it as perfect as possible, and Her
Highness wiU show him that she keeps her engage-
ments in a very different manner ! " Once more the
painter promised,' for the hundredth time, to finish
the picture in a fortnight, and, " strange as it seems,"
wrote Ciocca, " this time he has really kept his word ! "'
On the 7th of June, Isabella wrote to the painter
herself, addressing him as her very dear and famous
friend, and sending him the eighty ducats that were
still due to him. Before her letter reached Florence
the picture had been sent to Mantua, and on the
14th Perugino composed a letter, with the help of
a less illiterate friend, thanking the Marchesa for
the money, and saying that he hopes his work will
satisfy her wishes and his reputation, since he, as
is well known, has never failed to prefer honour
to gain. He further explained that he had painted
the picture in tempera, because Leombruno had told
him that Messer Andrea Mantegna's pictures in the
Marchesa's studio were executed in this medium.
On the 30th of June, Isabella wrote : " The pic-
ture has reached me safely, and pleases me, as it
is well drawn and coloured ; but, if it had been
more carefuUy finished, it would have been more
to your honour and to our satisfaction, since it is to
hang near those of Mantegna, which are painted
with rare delicacy. I am sorry that the painter
Lorenzo of Mantua advised you not to employ oils,
for I should have preferred this method, as it is
more effective. None the less, I am, as I said before,
well satisfied, and remain kindly disposed towards
you."^
1 BraghiroUi, op. cif.
ITS DEFECTS 33&
Perugino replied on the 10th of August, express-
ing his regret that he had not known the medium
employed by Mantegna, and saying that he would
have greatly preferred to use oils rather than tempera,
which did not suit the texture of his canvas, but hoped
some day to be allowed to paint the Marchesa another
more deUcately finished picture. Isabella, however,
was not sufficiently pleased with the Triumph of
Chastity to order a second painting for her studio,
and when, after Perugino's death, his widow, Chiara
FanceUi, offered her a picture of Mars and Venus
surprised by Vulcan, which the artist had intended
for the Marchesa, she declined to purchase the
painting.^ The correctness of Isabella's judgment
is confirmed by the sight of Perugino's picture, which
hangs in the Louvre to-day, side by side with the
works which Mantegna and Lorenzo Costa executed
for the Marchesa's Grotta. The Triumph of Chastity
is the feeblest and least satisfactory of the series, and
lacks the charm of the Ferrarese artist's graceful com-
positions, while it sinks far below the level of the
great Paduan master's conceptions. Both in style
and subject Isabella's poesia was iU-adapted to Peru-
gino's art, and had, it is plain, inspired him with Uttle
interest. The composition is crowded and confused,
without life or unity ; the execution is poor and
flimsy, and the figures and trees are curiously out of
proportion. The chief beauty of the picture lies in
the clear Umbrian sky, in the lovely landscape of
blue hills and river, and in the laughing faces and
gambols of the countless loves who are sporting on
the grass. Venus, we note, does not wear either
the crown, veil or garland prescribed by Isabella, and
1 BraghiroUi, op. cit.
340 ISABELLA'S CRITICISM
the Marchesa must have recognised that in this in-
stance at least the painter was right. But, as she
said herself, the Triumph of Chastity was hardly-
worthy of the place of honour which it occupied
in her studio, or of the painter's great name and
reputation.
CHAPTER XIX
1501—1507
Isabella asks Giovanni Bellini for a picture — Her correspondence
with Lorenzo da Pavia and Michele Vianello — The subject
changed to a Nativity — Delays of the painter — Isabella calls in
Alvise Marcello — Asks for her money to be returned — The
picture is completed and sent to Mantua in 1 504 — Isabella's
negotiations with Giovanni Bellini through Pietro Bembo for
another picture, which is never painted.
Giovanni Bellini had naturally been one of the
first painters to whom Isabella d'Este applied when
she began to adorn her new studio. His father,
Jacopo, had frequently visited Ferrara and worked
for the Este princes, and Francesco Gonzaga often
met both the brothers Giovanni and Gentile during
the years that he spent in the service of the Venetian
Signory. Isabella herself admired Giovanni's paint-
ings in the Council Hall on her first visit to Venice
in 1493, and three years afterwards asked the great
master to paint a picture for her Camerino. In 1498,
we know that she had been interested in comparing
certain paintings by Giovanni with Leonardo's por-
trait of the youthful Cecilia Gallerani,^ and the excel-
lence of his art was well known to her through his
personal friends, Lorenzo da Pavia, Aldo Manuzio, the
great printer, and other cultured Venetians, with
whom she was in constant communication. Early
in March 1501, Michele Vianello, a distinguished con-
noisseur, who, according to Messer Lorenzo, had the
1 " Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan," p. 53.
341
342 CORRESPONDENCE WITH
finest collection of works of art in Venice, and who
was on intimate terms both with the painter and the
master of organs, spent a few days at Mantua, and
promised the Marchesa to induce Giovanni to paint a
Jantasia to match the allegories of Mantegna.^
" On my arrival here," he wrote, March 5, " I went
to see Zuan Bellini, to execute the commission given
me by Your Signory before I left, and told him your
wish, and the Storia which you desire him to paint.
Zuan Bellini replied that he was obliged to work for
this Signory in the Palace, and could never get away
from early morning till after dinner, but that he
would manage to find or rob time in which to serve
you, both for your sake and for love of me. But I
must warn you that the said Zuan has many other
works on hand, so that it will be impossible for you
to have your picture as soon as you wish. I think it
will be a year and a half before it is finished. As to
the price, he asks 150 ducats, but may reduce it to
100. This is all I can do."
Isabella lost no time in clenching the bargain, and
on the 1st of April, Michele wrote again : " I have
seen Zuan BeUini several times, and told him Your
Excellency's wishes, and he has agreed to do the work
for 100 ducats in a year's time. He wiU set to work
as soon as possible, and I hope that you may have
the picture in a httle over a year. He promises to
take the greatest pains, and begs you to send him
25 ducats, and hopes to begin the work directly after
the holidays. — Your servant, M. Vianello."
On the 4th of April, Isabella wrote: "Messer
Michele, — 1 am glad to hear that you have induced
1 W. Braghirolli, Archivio Veneto, vol. xiii. ; C. Yriarte, Gazette
d. B. Arts, 1896.
GIOVANNI BELLINI 343
Zuan Bellini to do the picture, and in order that he
may set to work with the more courage after Easter,
I send him the 25 ducats as agreed." The money,
however, was not sent till the 25th of June, when
Michele acknowledged its receipt, and promised to
give it to BeUini as soon as he returned from the
country, where he was spending a few days at his
viUa. " I have," he continued, " already spoken to
him several times about your picture. He seems
most anxious to serve Your Signory, but does not
hke the idea of the Storia you propose, and is un-
willing to paint this, because, if this picture is to be
a companion to M. Andrea's work, he would like to
do his best, and is sure that he cannot make anything
good out of such a subject. He seems so reluctant
to undertake this Storia that I doubt if Your Ex-
cellency would be satisfied, and it would, I think, be
better to let him do as he pleases, for in that case
I am certain you would be better served. But he
wUl do nothing without your orders."
Isabella knew BeUini too well to insist further,
and on the 28th of June, she wrote to Michele as
follows : "If Zuan BeUini objects so much to this
Storia, I am content to leave the subject to his judg-
ment, as long as he paints a story or fable of his own
invention, representing something antique, which has
a fine meaning. I should be very glad if he would
begin the work at once, so that it may be finished
within the year, or even sooner, if possible. The
size of the picture has not been altered since you were
here and saw the place that it was to occupy in the
studio, but for greater safety I wiU send you the
correct measurements, and wiU teU our sculptor,
Zoanne Cristoforo, to write to you on this matter."
344 LORENZO DA PAVIA'S EFFORTS
The next mention we find of Giovanni's picture is
in a letter of the 27th of August from Lorenzo da
Pavia, who, writing on the 26th of July, teUs the
Marchesa that Vianello is doing his best to make
Giovanni Bellini paint her picture. A month later
he sends her some rosaries of the finest ebony, and a
Virgil and Petrarch lately issued by the Aldine
press, and after expressing his joy that she has
obtained possession of the clavichord which he had
made for her dead sister, Duchess Beatrice, adds
significantly : " Giovanni Bellini is going to paint you
a beautiful yawtam, but he has not yet set to work.
He is a slow man, and excuses himself because he is
still engaged in the Palace, but promises to do both
things." And he ends by advising his mistress to
apply to Perugino, a recommendation which she
promptly followed, to her cost.
But the months went by, and Isabella, hearing no
more of her picture, wrote on the 20th of December
to ask Messer Michele what the painter was about.
" After we sent you the 25 ducats for Zuan
BelUni, we never heard if he had begun our picture.
If it is to be finished in a year, he ought already to
have done a great part of the work. So please see
him, and teU me the exact state of the picture, and
beg him to persevere, so that we may have it at the
promised time. But if he has not begun the work,
and you know that he will not or cannot keep his
promise, you will see that he returns our money,
so that we may employ another master, since we
desire, above all things, to see the decoration of our
Camerino completed." ^
Michele wrote in reply, on the 12th of January
1 Braghirolli, op. cit.
TO OBTAIN BELLINI'S PICTURE 345
1502, that the painter had been ill for some time,
and had more work than he could do, but that
he promised to finish the picture by the end of
September, if the Marchesa would consent to wait so
long. Then an interval of eight months elapsed,
during which Isabella went to Ferrara for Lucrezia
Borgia's wedding, and afterwards came herself to
Venice, where she no doubt saw Lorenzo da Pavia
and Messer Michele, and probably received Bellini's
excuses and assurances of his readiness to serve her
in person. But when, at the end of August, she
asked Lorenzo for news of her picture, he replied : —
" Giovanni BeUini has never done anything I not
indeed for want of constant entreaties both on my
part and on that of Messer Michele, but I always
thought, as I told Your Highness, that he would
never paint this picture. He is not the man for
these subjects {historic). He says that he will do
them, but he never does ! By way of helping on
matters, I asked one of my friends, a poet of talent,
to invent a very simple theme which could be easily
painted, and which I now enclose, but even thus, I
fear, he wiU never undertake the work, and M. Michele
will therefore ask him to return the 25 ducats."
This, however, proved to be less easy than Lorenzo
supposed, and on the 10th of September, he wrote :
" As for the money. Your Highness must understand
that it is difficult to make the painter give back the
ducats. Now he pretends that he will paint you a
charming fantasia after his own fashion, which is, it
must be confessed, a rather lengthy fashion! M.
Michele begs you to write him a letter which he can
show the painter, and will compel him to restore the
money."
346 ISABELLA'S ANGER
Isabella now determined to give up the idea of a
painting for her studio, and to ask Bellini for one of
those sacred subjects in which he excelled. On the
15th of September, she wrote to Vianello : "M.
Michele, — You may remember that many months
ago we gave Zuan BeUini a commission to paint a
picture for the decoration of our studio, and when it
ought to have been finished we found that it was not
yet begun. Since it seemed clear that we should
never obtain what we desired, we told him to abandon
the work and give you back the 25 ducats which
we had sent him before, but now he begs us to leave
him the work, and promises to finish it soon. As
tiU now he has given us nothing but words, we beg
you wiU teU him in our name that we no longer care
to have the picture, but that if in its stead he would
paint a Nativity {Presepio -manger) we should be
well content, as long as he does not keep us waiting
any longer, and wiU count the 25 ducats which he
has already received as half payment. This, it
appears to us, is really more than he deserves, but
we are content to leave this to your judgment. We
desire this Nativity should contain the Madonna and
Our Lord God and St. Joseph, together with a St.
John Baptist and the usual animals. If he refuses
to agree to this, you will ask him to return the
25 ducats, and if he will not give back the money
you will take proceedings through the F«a della
Ragione " (a Venetian Court of Justice). When this
letter reached Venice the painter was absent, but as
soon as he returned Vianello made him Isabella's
offer, which he accepted gladly, promising to do a
most excellent thing for the Marchesa, and only
stipulating that the price should be 100 ducats, the
WITH THE PAINTER 347
same which he was to receive for the Storia. This,
however, Isabella refused to give, saying that 50 ducats
was sufficient, since the Nativity must be of a smaller
size, and could not be placed in her Camerino, but
should be hung in a bedroom. The exact dimensions
of the new picture were sent to Venice by Francesco
Gonzaga's secretary, Battista Scalona, and Vianello
acknowledged the receipt of the measurements, and
told Isabella that Bellini agreed to paint the Presepio
and to introduce " the Child and St. John Baptist,
with a distant landscape and other inventions, if this
is agreeable to Your Highness. As to the price, he
agreed to take 50 ducats, and anything more which
may seem good to Your Excellency. So I ordered the
canvas to be prepared with gesso, and he promised to
begin at once." ^
Isabella now suggested the addition of a St. Jerome
to the group, but the painter demurred to this, and
the Marchesa was compelled to yield. " Apparently,"
she wrote to Vianello on the 25th of November,
" Bellini will not hear of St. Jerome being introduced
in my Nativity ; but I did not choose the subject,
and it is he who seems to be reluctant to paint the
picture at all, so let him do as he pleases. I am will-
ing to have the Presepio, as long as it is worthy of
his reputation. As for the medium and material,
canvas or panel, he may do as he likes, as long as he
keeps to the measurements supplied." ^
A whole year went by, and, hearing no more of her
picture, Isabella once more desired Lorenzo da Pavia
to inquire if Giovanni Bellini were alive or dead ! On
the 6th of October 1503, Lorenzo wrote ; " I have
been to see Zuan Bellini, who declares the canvas
1 Braghirolli, op. cit. ^ Yriarte, op. cit.
348 ASKS FOR RETURN OF MONEY
will be ready in six weeks." But on the 3rd of
January, after repeated visits to the old master's
shop, he writes : " I am always seeing Zuan Bellini.
He is working at the picture, but very slowly, and
asks for another six weeks' respite, pretending that
the colour will not dry fast enough in winter."
By this time Isabella's patience was fairly at an
end, and on the 10th of April 1504, she addressed
the following letter to her long-suffering agent :
" Lorenzo, — We can no longer endure such villainy
as Giovanni Bellini has shown us regarding this
picture or panel of the Nativity which he agreed to
paint for us, and we have decided to recover our
money, even if the picture is finished, which we do
not beheve. I have written to the Magnifico Messer
Alvise Marcello, our compatre, begging him to claim
the money, and if Bellini refuses to return it, compel
him to do so by the command and authority of His
Most Serene Highness the Prince [the Doge, Leonardo
Loredano]. You will therefore beg His Magnificence
to do this office, in order that we may get out of the
hands of this ungrateful man."
On the same day the indignant Princess addressed
the following letter to Alvise Marcello, a patrician of
high rank, who, in his capacity of Venetian ambas-
sador at Mantua, had been godfather to one of her
children, and who had paid her special attention when
she had lately visited Venice : " Three years ago 1
gave Giovanni Bellini, the painter, 25 ducats as part
payment of a subject which he had promised to do for
my studio. Afterwards, since he declined to paint
this Storia, he agreed to execute a Nativity of Our
Lord for the said sum, as Michele Vianello and
Lorenzo da Pavia are aware. The master has never
ALVISE MARCELLO'S ADVICE 349
kept any of his promises, and does not, it is plain,
intend to keep them. We hardly know what steps
to take next, but we see clearly how little is the
respect which the painter has shown us. Belhni has
never considered his obligations to us, and we are
determined to have our money back. As there is no
one in Venice whom we trust more than Your Mag-
nificence, we have thought it best to ask you to desire
Bellini to return our 25 ducats, without accepting
either excuses or promises, for we will have no more
of his work. If he refuses, I beg of you not to shrink
in this extremity from saying words to the Prince, or
to any magistrate who can order an execution, so that
he may not be allowed to insult us in this fashion. If
he refuses to give back the money, which we can
hardly beheve, you might appeal to Michele Vianello
or Lorenzo da Pavia ; and Your Magnificence may
rest assured that you can do us no greater service
than to recover our money, and, what is of far more
importance, prevent Bellini from doing us so great
an injury."^
Even the noble Venetian Senator, however, hesi-
tated to take strong measures against the great
master, who stood so high in the public estimation,
and who was already seventy-seven years of age. All
he did was to send Lorenzo da Pavia once more to try
to bring the old man to reason. This time Bellini de-
clared that he had been overwhelmed with work, and
obhged to paint a picture for the Doge — probably the
noble portrait of Loredano in the white peaked cap,
which is now in the National Gallery. But when it
came to returning the money he stoutly refused, and
produced the picture, which was three-parts finished.
1 Yriarte, op. cit.
350 BELLINI'S APOLOGY
" He will certainly finish it now," wrote Alvise to the
Marchesa, " because of his great poverty — per essere
lui miserrimo," a strange statement on the part of so
renowned and industrious a painter, who was, more-
over, in receipt of a considerable pension from the
State. However, Messer Alvise's courteous phrases,
and, yet more, the prospect of having her picture,
produced a softening effect on the Marchesa's temper,
and a humble letter which Giovanni himself sent her
on the 2nd of July, satisfied her offended dignity, and
induced her to overlook the past : —
" Most illustrious Excellency, — If I have been
slow to satisfy the wish of Your Highness, which
was no less my own, and you have found it tedious
to wait so long for the promised picture, I beg your
pardon on bended knees, praying you of your wonted
kindness to attribute this delay to my innumerable
occupations, and not to any forgetfuhiess of Your
Excellency's orders, which are graven in my heart
continually, since I am your most devoted servant ;
and I pray God that if I have not satisfied Your
Highness in point of time, you may at least be con-
tent with the work, and if this does not satisfy your
great wisdom and experience, you will ascribe my
failure to the weakness of my own poor powers. —
Humbly commending myself to Your Excellency,
your most humble servant, Johannes Bellinus,
pictor." ^ Venice, July 2, 1504.
Four days afterwards, Lorenzo da Pavia was able
to inform his mistress that the picture was at length
completed, and, better still, that it was a beautiful
work of art, fully worthy of the grand old master's
fame.
1 Braghirolli, op. cit.
THE PRESEPIO FINISHED 351
" Most illustrious and excellent Madonna, — I have
been to Zuan Bellini several times with the Magnifico
Alvise MarceUo to ask for the return of the money
without being able to effect anything, but this
mormng I went back and saw the picture, which is
really finished and wants nothing. And it is indeed
a beautiful thing, even finer than I could have ex-
pected, and will, I am sure, please Your Excellency.
The painter has made a great effort to do himself
honour, chiefly out of respect to M. Andrea
Mantegna, and although it is true that in point of
invention it cannot compare with the work of
Messer Andrea, that most excellent master, I pray
Your Excellency to take the picture, both for your
own honour and also because of the merit of the
work. He need not lose his money, in any case, for
I have found a purchaser who wiU give me the money
for you, but I will do nothing until 1 hear from you,
and perhaps it may not come to anything. Although
the said Zuan BeUini has behaved so badly that he
could not possibly have acted worse, his excuses are
not altogether without reason, and Your Highness
must accept his excellence and forget his iU conduct.
And I say this because his works are among the
finest in Italy, and all the more because he is growing
old and will only become feebler. If you vdsh it,
he will have a most beautiful frame made for the
picture, and take its measurements before we send
it to you. — Your Lorenzo da Pavia."^ Venice,
July 6.
No sooner did Isabella receive Lorenzo's letter
than, fuU of joy at the prospect of receiving her
picture, she wrote off to the old painter, graciously
1 Braghirolli, op. cit.
352 LORENZO'S OPINION OF BELLINI
assuring him of her willingness to forgive the past and
accept his work.
" Messer Zuan Bellini, — If the picture which you
have painted for us agrees, as we believe and hope,
with your fame, we shall be satisfied, and are ready to
forgive you the wrong which your long delays have
caused us. Therefore, I beg you to give the canvas
to Lorenzo da Pavia, who will pay you the 25
ducats that are still owing, and we pray you to pack
it in such a manner that it may be brought here
conveniently, and without risk. If we can oblige
you in any way we will do so gladly, when we
have seen if you have served us well." Mantua,
July 9, 1504.
At the same time she sent these few lines
to Lorenzo : " Since Zuan BeUini has finished
the picture, and it is as beautiful as you tell
us, we are willing to take it and send you the
25 ducats remaining to complete the payment,
by our secretary, Battista Scalona. Please have
it packed so that it can travel safely, and give it to
Scalona." ^
The faithful Lorenzo sent off the picture with a
deep sense of relief, but not without some feeling of
alarm. "It seems to me," he wrote on the 16th of
July, " that a thousand years wiU elapse before I hear
how you like this picture. Certainly it is a beautiful
work, although I confess, if I had ordered it, I should
have preferred the figures to have been larger. And,
as I said before, in point of invention no one can
rival Andrea Mantegna, who is indeed a most
excellent painter, the foremost of our age. But
Zuan BeUini excels in colouring, and all who have
^ Braghirolli, op. cit.
ISABELLA SATISFIED 353
seen this little picture think it admirable ; and it is
very highly finished, and will bear close inspection."
But his fears proved groundless, and Isabella ex-
pressed the greatest delight and admiration for the
picture. " I am indeed glad," wrote Lorenzo, " that
the painting pleases Your Excellency, and this news
has given me the most lively pleasure. It is a very
fine work, but I stiU think the figures are too small.
The mistake lay in not asking the painter for two or
three drawings or sketches from which a choice could
be made. But no one ever mentioned this to me,
and Bellini would never let me see his work, or I
might have made some objection to the size. If
the picture could speak, it might complain of being
painted in so narrow a space." ^
Isabella, however, had no fault to find, and
kept Giovanni BeUini's Nativity to her dying day
among her most cherished treasures. But it dis-
appeared with so many other precious works after
the sack of Mantua, and the last mention we find of
it is in the inventory of 1627, where it is described
as — "A picture of about three hraccia long, by
Giovanni BeUini, with a Blessed Virgin, the Child,
St. John the Baptist, St. Jerome, and St. Katherine,
on panel." ^
The best proof that we have of Isabella's satisfac-
tion with Bellini's painting is the fact that before
a year was over she once more renewed her request
that he would paint a Storia for her Camerino.
This time she had recourse to a powerful ally in
the person of Pietro Bembo, who, as we have already
seen, paid a visit to Mantua in June 1505, and
1 Yriarte, op. cit.
2 D'Arco, Arte e Ariefici di Mantova, ii. 188.
VOL. I. 2
354 BEMBO INDUCES BELLINI
promised to use his influence with Bellini to induce
him to paint a Storia to match the paintings of
the Grotta, by Mantegna and Perugino. The ac-
complished scholar was intimate with the grand old
master, who had lately painted a beautiful portrait of
his mistress, and on his return to Venice lost no
time in fulfilling his errand. On the 27th of August,
he wrote to Isabella :—
" I send Your Illustrious Signory many thanks
for your messages to me by M. Zuan Francesco
Valerio, which show me — what is more precious to
me than anything else in the world — that you
remember I am your good servant. I have not
forgotten that I promised, if possible, to induce
Zuan Bellini to paint a picture for your Camerino,
in which matter I have been greatly helped by M.
Paolo Zoppo, a loyal servant of Your Highness, and
a dear friend of Belhni. In fact, we have stormed
the castle with so much vigour that I believe it will
shortly surrender. All that we now require to make
the victory complete is that Your Excellency should
write a warm letter to the master, begging him to
oblige you, and if you send it to me, you may be sure
it wiU not have been written in vain. Since I left
you, I have been so busy that I have nothing new
to send, so you must pardon me if this letter is
empty. I kiss your hands and commend myself to
my honoured lady, Alda Boiarda. — Your servant,
PiETEO Bembo."^
Isabella was ill with fever when this letter reached
her, but as soon as she recovered she employed
Capilupi to write the following letter to BeUini : —
" Messer Joanne, — You will no doubt remember
' Gaye, Carieggio, ii. 76.
TO PAINT A STORIA 355
how greatly we desired to have a painted Storia from
your hand to hang near those of your brother-in-law,
Mantegna, and how earnestly we formerly begged
you to gratify our wish. But since, by reason of
your numerous engagements, you were unable to
gratify us, we were content to accept, instead of the
Storia, a Nativity, which pleased us greatly, and is
as dear to us as any picture we possess. But the
Magnifico Pietro Bembo, when he was here a few
months ago, heard of this our great desire, and gave
us hopes that it might be gratified, since he believed
that many of the works upon which you were en-
gaged are now finished, and, knowing the sweetness
of your nature and your readiness to oblige all men,
more especially persons in authority, he assured us
that you might be willing to satisfy us. Since then,
however, we have been constantly ill with fever, and
imable to attend to business, but now that we are in
better health we write to ask if you will paint this
picture, and choose the poetic invention yourself, if
you do not wish us to give it to you. And, besides
giving you fuU and honourable payment, we shall
remain under eternal obligations to you. When
we hear that you agree to this, we will send you
the measure of the canvas and the earnest money."
Mantua, October 19, 1505.
Bellini replied before long, expressing his readiness
to undertake the work, and on the 7th of November,
the Marchesa wrote to thank him : —
" We are very happy to hear that you are willing
to satisfy our intense desire, and paint the picture
about which we wrote lately. Nothing wiU please
us more than to have a work from your hand. We
will have the measurements taken, and will send you
356 FOR THE GROTTA
particulars of the lighting, according to the place
where the picture is to hang. And since the
Magnifico Pietro Bembo is soon returning to Venice,
and has seen the pictures in our Grotta, he wiU be
able to decide on the subject with you. We wiU
then send you the earnest money, and beg you to
persevere in your present kindly intention towards
us. Meanwhile, farewell."^
On the 20th, Bembo, who had been absent from
Venice for some weeks, wrote to the Marchesa :
" Having just returned from the March, where I
spent some time, I find Your Signory's letters on
the subject of Bellmi's picture, in answer to mine,
which are already old. And I also hear that M.
Paolo Zoppo and M. Lorenzo da Pavia, both of
them good servants of Your Highness, have been
diligent in my absence. But to-day I have been to
see Zuan Bellini, and find that he has firmly resolved
to gratify your wish, which I am sure he will do
admirably. He only awaits your answer as to the
size and lighting of the picture."
Lorenzo, who now appears on the scene again,
had lately returned from a visit to the Court of
Urbino, where the good Duchess Elisabetta had
given him a warm welcome, and had shown him the
beauties and treasures of the ducal palace. But the
negotiations with Giovanni Bellini, far from being
ended, were, as he knew by experience, only just
beginning. Meanwhile, news reached Venice of
Isabella's illness, and of the birth of her son Ercole,
and Bembo hastened to send the illustrious lady
condolences on her prolonged sickness and congratu-
lations on her happy deliverance.
1 Gaye, op. cit, p. 80, &c. ; C. Yriarte, Gazette, &c., 1896.
CHOICE OF A SUBJECT 357
On the 2nd of December, the Marchesa dictated
the following letter to her secretary, Capilupi : —
" Magnifico Messer Pietro, — We were glad to hear
from the letter of Your Magnificence that you had
reached Venice safely, and feel sure that, as you
grieved over our sickness, so you will have rejoiced
over the fortunate birth of our son, since we are
persuaded that you love us with the same fraternal
affection that we feel for you. We thank you
sincerely for your good offices with BeUini, and beg
you to keep an eye upon him until we are able to
leave our bed, and send hiixi the necessary directions
for the size and hghting of the picture. At present
you might remind him to finish any other works
upon which he is engaged, in order that, after the
Christmas festival, he may be able to attend to our
affairs without distraction. I hope Your Magni-
ficence will not object to choosing the subject of a
fantasia which may satisfy BeUini. Since you have
seen the other pictures in our Camerino, you wiU
know what is most appropriate, and will be able to
choose a graceful theme of new and different mean-
ing. You can, we repeat, do us no greater pleasure
than this, of which we shall ever remain mindful, and,
as before, most ready to serve you."^
On the 1st of January 1506,^ Bembo replied :
" BeUini, whom I have seen several times of late, is
exceUently disposed towards Your Excellency, and
is only awaiting the measurements of the canvas to
begin work. But the invention, which you teU me
I am to choose for the picture, must be adapted to
1 V. Cian, Un Decennio nella Vita di P. Bembo, p. 218.
2 This letter is dated 1505 in D'Arco and Gaye. It should be
1505 O.S., i.e. 1506.
358 CORNELIO'S TRIUMPH OF SCIPIO
the painter's fancy. He does not care to have his
imagination fettered by innumerable instructions,
but prefers to arrange his composition according to
his own ideas, being confident that in this way he
can produce the best effect. All the same, I wiU
endeavour to meet your wishes as well as his own."
In return, Pietro begs this gracious lady to do him
a great favour. A certain kinsman and very dear
friend of his, a man of great parts and excellent
learning, Messer Francesco Cornaro (or, as he chose
to Latinise his name, Cornelio), " being, like all noble
and gentle souls, passionately fond of rare things," had
engaged Messer Andrea Mantegna to paint some
canvases for him, at the price of 150 ducats, 25 of
which he paid down when he sent the measurements.
"Now he tells me," continued Bembo, "that M.
Andrea refuses to go on with the work without
asking a much larger sum, which seems to M.
Francesco the strangest thing in the world, especially
as he possesses letters from M. Andrea in which he
himself fixed this price. I therefore beg and implore
Your Signory to persuade M. Andrea to keep faith
with M. Francesco, and begin his pictures, since he
who is called the Mantegna of the world ought above
all men to keep (mantenere) his promises. . . . M.
Francesco does not care about one or two hundred
ducats — thank God, he has them in abundance ; but
he does not like to be lightly esteemed and mocked
at, and, if Your Excellency thinks Mantegna's work
is deserving of a higher reward, is perfectly ready to
accept your decision. ... I hope also that Messer
Andrea's well-known courtesy and gentilezza wiU
not render Your Excellency's task difficult, and I
promise you that M. Francesco will gratefully repay
MANTEGNA'S ILLNESS 359
all that you do for him with M. Andrea, by helping
on your business with M. Zuan Bellini, over whom
he has great influence, and will, as well as myself,
remain most deeply obliged to Your Most Illus-
trious Excellency." ^
The picture in question was the noble Triumph of
Scipio, now in the National Gallery, which was still
in Mantegna's shop at the time of his death, eight
months later.
Isabella rephed to this letter of Bembo on the
31st of January : " We are dehghted to hear that
Bellini is going to do the picture, and recognise
that this is owing to Your Magnificence. We will
find out the particulars of the size and the hghting,
and wiU send them to you, together with the earnest
money. Meanwhile we beg you earnestly to settle
the subject with the painter. M. Andrea Mantegna
has been very dangerously ill these last days. He is
very near his end, and although just now he is a little
better, it is impossible to speak to him of picrtures, or
of anything but his health. If he recovers we will
see that the Magnificent Francesco Cornelio receives
satisfaction." ^
But a series of unexpected interruptions interfered
with the execution of Isabella's plans. In March, she
paid her first visit to Florence, and the sudden out-
break of plague on her return compelled her to leave
Mantua in haste and take refuge with her children
and servants in her villa of Sacchetta. On the 11th
of May,^ she wrote to Bembo, regretting that owing
to her hurried departure from the Castello, and the
disturbance caused by this terrible visitation, she had
1 Gaye, op. cil., pp. 71-73. ^ Yriarte, op. cit.
3 V. Cian in Giom. St. d. Lett. It., vol. ix.
360 VIANELLO'S SALE
been unable to send the measurements of Bellini's
picture, but hoped to do this as soon as the plague
abated, and begged him in the meantime to compose
the poesia and keep the painter in the same excellent
dispositions. Meanwhile, she had heard from Lorenzo
da Pa via of the death of his friend, the accomplished
Michele Vianello, who had served her so loyally and
well in her former negotiations with Bellini. The
cabinetto of this refined collector, with all its priceless
contents, was shortly to be sold by auction, and
Isabella was especially anxious to acquire a rare agate
vase, and a picture of the Passage of the Red Sea
and the Destruction of Pharaoh, by the Flemish
artist Van Eyck, or, as she calls him, John of Bruges.
She lost no time in acquainting Bembo with her
wishes, and once more begged his assistance. " I
have reverently received Your Most Illustrious
Excellency's letter," wrote Messer Pietro on the
13th of May, " and understand that you wish to
buy the agate vase and Destruction of Pharaoh
which belonged to Vianello. I will see Taddeo
Albano and Lorenzo da Pavia, and will endeavour
to satisfy Your Excellency, as is my bounden duty.
As for Bellini, I will not fail to obey you. I was
very sorry to hear of the plague at Mantua, which
deprived me of the pleasure of paying my respects
to Your Highness this Easter, which was, I confess,
the chief object of my journey." ^
A prolonged correspondence on the subject of
Vianello's sale took place between the Marchesa and
Lorenzo da Pavia, and Isabella sought the help of
all her friends in Venice to attain the desired end.
On the day of the sale, Messer Michele's palace was
1 Gaye, op. cii., p. 82.
VAN EYCK'S PICTURE 361
crowded with the most distinguished collectors in
Venice, and the utmost excitement prevailed when,
after a fierce struggle with Messer Andrea Loredano,
the picture by John of Bruges was knocked down to
Lorenzo da Pa via for the large sum of 115 ducats.
" I was in an agony of fear," writes the excellent
Lorenzo, " and should have felt happier if it had been
a little less." ^ Money was very scarce, as he knew,
just then at Mantua. All Isabella's jewels were
pledged, and she found it difficult to meet her
current expenses, but she managed to borrow the
money from her good friend, the banker Albano,
and wrote joyously to tell her favourite sculptor,
Cristoforo Romano, of the new treasures which she
had secured.^
Soon afterwards Pietro Bembo left Venice for
Urbino, and we hear no more of his poesia or of Zuan
Bellini's picture. Only in a letter of the 9th of
January 1507,' Lorenzo da Pavia remarks : " I learn
by Your Signory's letter that you are very impatient
to have the viol of ebony and sandal- wood, and feel
quite ashamed by my own delays. I seem to have
caught Messer Zuan Bellini's malady ! " But, in his
defence, let it be remembered that the old painter
was over eighty years of age.
^ A. Baschet, Aide Manuce.
2 A. Venturi, Cristoforo Romano, Archivio dell' Arte, i. 151.
8 C. Yriarte, Gazette d. B. Arts, 1896.
CHAPTER XX
1504—1512
Mantegna's last works for Isabella d'Este — His illness and debts
— He appeals to Isabella for help^ and sells her his antique
bust of Faustina — Calandra's description of Comus — Death of
Mantegna and tribute of Lorenzo da Pavia — Pictures in
Andrea's workshop — The Comus finished by Lorenzo Costa —
Letters of Antonio Galeazzo Bentivoglio to Isabella — The
Triumph of Poetry or Court of Isabella — Costa's portrait of
the Marchesa — Francia paints the portrait of her son Federico
and her own — Correspondence on the subject with Casio and
Lucrezia Bentivoglio — Death of Giorgione.
The year in which Isabella d'Este made a last attempt
to obtain a picture for her studio from the aged
Bellini was also that of Mantegna's death. His
health had long been failing, and when, in April
1505, he implored Isabella's good offices on behalf of
his son, who had incurred the Marquis's displeasure,
and been banished from Mantua, his feeble state of
mind excited the Marchesa's deepest compassion.
"M. Andrea Mantegna came to recommend his
son to me," she wrote to her lord on the 1st of April,
" looking all tearful and agitated, and with so sunken
a face that he seemed to me more dead than ahve.
The sight filled me with so much compassion that I
could not refuse to beg Your Excellency to restore
his son to him with your usual goodness, for, gravely
as he has sinned against you, the long service, incom-
parable excellence, and rare merits of M. Andrea
MANTEGNA'S ILLNESS 363
claim this favour on behalf of his rebellious son. If
we wish him to live and to finish our work Your
Excellency must gratify him, or else we shall soon lose
him, and he will die, rather of grief than of old age ;
so I recommend him with all my heart to your good
graces. — Your wife, Isabella, with her own hand." ^
The Marquis, however, absolutely refused to par-
don Francesco Mantegna, saying that he had insulted
the best of his servants, and in spite of his pretences
was in reality the most irreligious man in the world !
Finally, he desired Isabella to teU M. Andrea that,
greatly as the Marquis would always honour him,
his son was unworthy of receiving any favour at
his hands.^ More than a year passed before Fran-
cesco was allowed to return to Mantua and to resume
his labours in the palace of S. Sebastiano. Mean-
while, Andrea, as we have seen from Isabella's letter
to Bembo ^ in January 1506, fell dangerously ill, and
for some days was not expected to live. He recovered,
however, but his son's misconduct and the pecuniary
difficulties in which he found himself weighed heavily
upon his mind, and the sad words which he inscribed
on his last picture, the St. Sebastian of the Franchetti
collection, bear witness to the deep gloom which had
settled on his soul : Nil nisi divinum stabile est ;
coetera fumus — " Nothing but the Divine endures ;
the rest is smoke." In his distress the old master
turned to Isabella, and addressed the following letter
to the Princess, who had always proved his best and
kindest friend : —
" Dear and illustrious Lady, — Accept, I pray Your
1 D'Arco, o;j. cit., ii. 58.
2 Kristeller, " Andrea Mantegna," App., Doc. 73.
3 See p. 359.
364 HE OFFERS HIS FAUSTINA
Excellency, my humblest and most sincere recom-
mendations to your favour. I feel myself by the
grace of God somewhat better, and although I have
not yet recovered the full use of my limbs, yet the
little talent which God gave me is still undiminished,
and is, as ever, at the command of Your Excellency,
I have almost finished the drawing of the Storia of
Comus for Your Excellency, and hope to go on with
it as my fancy is able to help me. Illustrissima
Madonna mia, I commend myself to you, because for
many months past I have not been able to obtain a
farthing, and am in great need, and feel myself sorely
embarrassed, since, never expecting these bad times,
and being desirous not to remain a vagabond on the
face of the earth, I had bought a house for the price
of 340 ducats, payable in three instalments. Now
the first term is ended, and I am pressed on all sides
by creditors, and, as Your Excellency knows, I can
neither sell nor mortgage anything now, and I have
many other debts ; so it has come into my mind to
help myself as best I can by parting from my dearest
possessions, and, since I have been often asked at
different times, and by many persons of note, to sell
my dear Faustina of antique marble. Necessity,
which compels us to do many things, prompts me to
write to Your Excellency on the subject, since, if I
must part from it, I would rather you should have it
than any other lord or lady in the world. The price
is 100 ducats, which I might have had many times
over from great masters ; and I beg of you to let me
know your intentions, and commend myself infinite
times to Your Excellency. — Your servant, Andreas
Mantinia." ^
1 D'Arco, Arte e Artefici, ii. 6l.
TO ISABELLA 365
To this piteous appeal Isabella returned no answer.
Her time and thoughts were fully occupied, and she
was not even able to send BeUini the measurements
of the picture, which she was so anxious to obtain.
Then came her visit to Florence and the sudden
outbreak of the plague. After that she was re-
duced to dire straits for want of money, and may
well have found it difficult to give Messer Andrea
the hundred ducats for his beloved Faustina. But as
soon as the plague began to abate she sent the son
of her old Castellan, Gian Giacomo Calandra, from
Sacchetta to pay the painter a visit and inquire about
his antique bust, which she coveted greatly, but could
not ajfford to buy at so high a price.
" This morning," writes Calandra, " I visited
Mantegna in Your Excellency's name, and found
him fuU of complaints on his sufferings and needs,
which have compelled him to mortgage his property
for 60 ducats, besides having many other debts. But
he still refuses to reduce the price of his Faustina, and
hopes to get it. I pointed out that this was hardly
the time for any one to lay out so large a sum, and it
comes to this : he would rather keep the marble than
let it go for less than 100 ducats, but if great want
should compel him to lower the price, he wiU let
Your Highness know. This he promised me faith-
fully. But if he finds a purchaser who will give
100 ducats, since you cannot give that, he will let it
go without writing to you again. I do not see that
he has any hope of selling it at this price, unless it is
to Monsignore the Bishop [Louis Gonzaga, Bishop of
Mantua, and uncle of the Marquis], who is fond of
these things and spends largely. But I think he
hoped to excite the jealousy of Your Excellency by
366 HIS SKETCH OF COMUS
the thought of another customer, and so I feel bound
to tell you this. Afterwards he begged me to entreat
Your Highness to advance some money to supply his
needs, that he might be able to work better at his pic-
ture of the God Comus. I did not fail to make ample
excuses, but promised that I would tell you this, as
I do now. I asked to see his picture, in which he
has drawn these figures : the God Comus, two Venuses
(one draped and the other nude), two Loves, Janus
with Envy on his arm pushing her out. Mercury, and
three other figures, who are put to flight by him.
The others are still wanting, but the drawing of
these is most beautiful. I must tell you that he is
hurt at your not having answered his letter, and he
said with a smile that perhaps it was out of shame
because you could not help him in his present
necessities. And, indeed, it seemed to me that he
quite understood my excuses. As to your reply to
his letter, I told him that Your Excellency did him
quite as much honour by sending her servant in
person as by writing to him, and that, if you did not
show him the courtesy and hberality which his talents
deserved, you had no reason to be ashamed, since the
state of the country was a more than sufficient excuse.
I have written this to Your Highness, because it
seems to me that a letter from you would console
him, if you would write without taking any notice of
his resentment. If you are not satisfied with what I
have done in the matter, I beg you to forgive me,
for I have done what I could, and I kiss your hands
humbly. — Your faithful servant, Jo. Jac. Calandba."
Mantua, July 15, 1506.
Isabella now desired Calandra to send the bust by
boat across the lake to Sacchetta, and promised to
ISABELLA BUYS HIS FAUSTINA 367
let Andrea know her decision as soon as she had seen
it. On the 1st of August, Gian Giacomo wrote as
follows : —
"Your Highness will have heard from Capilupi
that I received the Faustina from M. Andrea
Mantegna, who, although he gave it me into my
hands without any conditions, and was very wUling
to gratify your wish, yet did this with great ceremony,
and entrusted the marble to me with repeated injunc-
tions, and many signs of jealous affection, so much
so that if six days were to expire without his seeing
it again, I am almost certain that he would die.
Although I have not said a word about the price, he
himself repeated that he would not take less than
100 ducats, begging your pardon for this his per-
tinacity, but declaring that, unless he were compelled
by necessity, he would not part from it for much
more. I am sorry I could not send it by to-day's
boat, and perhaps six days may elapse before another
boat starts, but Your Signory will let me know if
you wish it to be sent by messenger." ^
Immediately on receiving the precious bust,
Isabella wrote to tell Mantegna that she wovdd
keep it, and give him the price which he asked.
"M. Andrea, — We have received your head of
Faustina, which pleases us, and which we desire to
have for the price which you ask, for, even if it were
not worth the 100 ducats, we should be glad to give
it you for your pleasure and convenience. But since,
owing to the disturbance caused by the plague, we
have no ready money, we are sending you our
servant Cusatro to make arrangements which may
meet your needs and our own, because he can tell
1 D'Arco, op. cit., ii. 66. -
368 AND PAYS HIS DEBTS
you what we are able to do, and we will not fail to
do whatever he promises. We beg you to be con-
tent to settle the matter with Cusatro, and shall be
content to abide by whatever you and he may decide.
We wiU keep the head until Cusatro returns, and, if
you do not agree to his terms, wiU return it at
once." Sacchetta, August 4, 1506.
The result of Cusatro's interview with the painter
was that the Marchesa agreed to be responsible for
100 ducats which he owed to his chief creditor.
Immediately after her servant's return to Sacchetta,
Isabella hastened to set the old man's mind at rest
on the subject.
"M. Andrea, — We sent for Hieronimo Bosio,
your creditor, and, according to the arrangement
which you made with Cusatro, we came to an
agreement as to the 100 ducats, which he will be
content to take from us. So you need have no
further anxiety on the subject, and whenever you
wish it we will pay these 100 ducats, which wiU be
given to him, and paid by us for the Faustina.
Of the remaining 27 ducats which you stUl owe,
Hieronimo cannot dispose, because they are due to
his brother Alessandro, and we have not at present
the means of paying the money, which we would
gladly do, as earnest money for the picture which
you are painting for us, and in order to give you
ease and peace of mind. But you wiU excuse
us, because you know the extreme difficulty that
we have in finding money at the present time."^
Sacchetta, August 7.
Isabella, it is clear, was genuinely anxious to deal
kindly by the old painter, whose great services she
1 Kristeller, op. cit, App., Doc. 79 and 80.
DEATH OF MANTEGNA 369
fully appreciated, although in her passion for en-
riching her studio she did not scruple to deprive him
of his beloved Faustina. As Calandra had pro-
phesied, he did not long survive the loss of his
treasured marble. Six weeks afterwards he died,
on Sunday the 13th of August, and Francesco
Mantegna, the son who had caused him so much
sorrow, wrote to inform his patron, the Marquis, of
his death, telling him that with his dying breath his
father had asked for His Excellency, lamenting his
lord's absence, and had sent him a last message.
" We are sure," he adds, " that Your Excellency, who
always rewards his true servants generously, will not
forget the fifty years' service rendered you by such a
man, and will help us in our present loss and sorrow." ^
On the following day the news of Mantegna's
death reached ^''enice, and, in a brief note to Isabella,
that true artist, Lorenzo da Pavia, paid a noble
tribute to the great painter : " 1 am much grieved to
hear of the death of our Messer Andrea Mantegna.
For, indeed, we have lost a most excellent man and
a second Apelles, but I believe that the Lord God
wUl employ him to make some beautiful work. As for
me, I can never hope to see again a finer draughtsman
and more original artist. Farewell. — Your servant,
Lorenzo da Pavia in Venecia."^ October 16, 1506.
The great master had no truer epitaph.
Isabella's reply was brief but sincere : " Lorenzo, —
We were sure that you would grieve over the death
of M. Andrea Mantegna, for, as you say, a great light
has gone out." s
1 D'Arco, op. ciL, ii. 67.
2 Armand Baschet, op. cit, p. 47.
3 Kristeller, op. cit, App., Doc. 84.
VOL. I. ^ ^
370 ELISABETTA'S REGARD FOR HIM
The Marchesa's interest in Mantegna's family
did not cease with his death, and through her in-
fluence his son was allowed to retain his house in the
Borgo Pradella. In November 1507, Lodovico
Mantegna wrote begging her to help him to recover
certain moneys, which Cardinal Sigismondo had
granted the brothers on the tolls in payment of the
pictures which he had kept, so that they might be
able to defray the expenses of their father's funeral
and of their own mourning. Two years afterwards
Lodovico died, and Francesco, after trying to kill
his widowed sister-in-law, and seize his nephew's
patrimony, applied to Elisabetta of Urbino for re-
dress, declaring that he had been cruelly defrauded
by the corruption and malignity of legal officers.
The kind Duchess wrote in touching terms to her
brother, the Marquis, begging him to repair the sup-
posed injustice which had been done to Mantegna's
son — " for the sake of the more than ordinary love
which I bore to Messer Andrea, who, as Your
Excellency knows, was a man of rare genius and
most devoted to our house. Truly," she goes on,
" this love that we bore him in life, did not end with
his death, but also extended to his son Francesco,
for whom I am inclined to cherish the greatest de-
votion, because he is now Messer Andrea's only
surviving son." ^ But Francesco's real character was
too well known at Mantua for the Marquis to attend
to his complaints, and, in spite of Elisabetta's inter-
cession, he never recovered his patron's favour.
Among the works that remained in Mantegna's
workshop at the time of his death were the so-called
Triumph of Scipio, which had been ordered by
1 D'Arco, op. cit, ii. 77.
COSTA FINISHES THE COMUS 371
Francesco Cornaro, and the famous Crista in scurto,
or foreshortened Christ, from which the painter would
never part in his hfe-time. Both of these were re-
tained by Cardinal Sigismondo Gonzaga, while a
third, the imposing St. Sebastian, now belonging to
Baron Franchetti of Venice, became the property
of Bishop Louis Gonzaga. After that art-loving
prelate's death in 1511, this noble work passed into
the hands of Cardinal Bembo, in whose house at
Padua Marco Antonio Michiel saw it. But no
mention was made of the unfinished Comus, which
had evidently been ordered by Isabella for her
studio, and now passed into her hands. A few
months afterwards she employed the Ferrarese artist,
Lorenzo Costa, who settled at Mantua in November
1506, and succeeded Mantegna as court painter, to
finish this Storia, which in style and subject agrees
exactly with the works which Mantegna, Perugino,
and Costa himself had already painted for her Grotta.
The group of Janus and Envy and Mercury driving
out three figures of the Vices on the right, agrees
exactly with Calandra's description, while the word
Comes is inscribed on the triumphal arch which occu-
pies a prominent place in the picture. In the inven-
tory of 1542, this painting is described as being " by the
hand of M. Lorenzo Costa, and containing a triumphal
arch and many figures making music, together with
a fable of Leda." The real title of the Storia, it is
plain, was the Triumph of Music, in the person of
the mirth-loving Comus, the god of musical inspira-
tion, who is here seen leading the joyous Bacchic
train, while Orpheus and Arion are both introduced
1 This has been convincingly shown by Dr. Kristeller, op. cit,
p. 858.
372 ANTONIO BENTTVOGLIO'S OFFER
in the foreground of the picture. The subject was
no doubt chosen by Paride da Ceresara, at Isabella's
suggestion, to form the companion picture of the
Triumph of Poetry, which Lorenzo Costa had
already painted at Bologna.
During the summer of 1504, when Isabella was
moving heaven and earth to obtain painted allegories
for her studio from Giovanni Bellini and Perugino,
she received a visit from the Protonotary, Messer
Antonio Galeazzo Bentivoglio, a brother-in-law of
her sister Lucrezia d'Este, and displayed the treasures
of the Grotta before his admiring eyes. This courtly
prelate, whose portrait Francia has introduced in a
well-known Nativity, promised to ask the painter,
Lorenzo Costa, who had been long settled at Bologna,
to undertake a picture for the Marchesa's studio, and
soon after his return, wrote to inform her that Costa
would gladly execute her commission, and paint any
fantasia which she might choose.
Isabella wrote off without a moment's delay to
Paride da Ceresara, who had already supplied Peru-
gino and Bellini -vfithfantasie at her request, begging
him to invent a composition similar to those which
had not yet been executed by these dilatory masters.
" I really do not know," she remarks, " which of
us two suffers the most from the interminable delays
of these painters — I who see no end to the decora-
tion of my Camerino, and you who are every day
required to supply new compositions, which these
wayward masters either refuse to execute or else
render inaccurately. We have, therefore, decided to
employ some new painters, so that we may be able
to complete the work within a fixed period." ^
' C. Yriarte, Gazette d. B. Arts, 1896.
PARIDE'S INVENTION 373
Five days later, the Marchesa received the poet's
composition, which seemed to her perfect of its kind.
"If only," she exclaimed with a sigh, "painters were
as rapid as poets ! " On the 27th of November, she
forwarded Paride's instructions to Bologna, together
with threads, giving the length and breadth of the
picture, enclosed in a sealed packet, and a sketch of
the composition, " because," as she remarked, " words
do not always express our whole meaning." In con-
clusion, she promised to send the earnest money, and
begged Messer Antonio, who understood drawing
well, to see that the painter began the picture at
once, and did not drag on his work after the fashion
of Perugino and Bellini.
The courteous Protonotary hastened to satisfy her
on these points. " As soon as I received the letter by
your courier," he wrote on the 1st of December, " I
sent for the painter, who was greatly pleased with
Your Excellency's fantasia, and says that he will
execute it in his own way, omitting nothing, but im-
proving the composition. I feel sure that he will
satisfy you thoroughly, because he works with his
whole heart. Afterwards, in speaking of the lighting,
I told him that the painting was to hang in the place
where Your Excellency showed me, that, as far as I
could recollect, the light would fall in the opposite
direction, and that I thought Messer Andrea's picture
was varnished, which surprised him, as it was painted
on canvas. Will you, therefore, kindly tell me if
M. Andrea's picture is varnished or not, and send me
the precise size of the figures, so that the painter may
see that his work corresponds in all respects with the
neighbouring pictures ? As soon as the painter receives
this information, and all things necessary are ready,
374 LORENZO COSTA
he will begin work, and I will see, as I promised, that
Your Excellency is well and promptly served, and
that you are not made to wait as interminably as you
were by your other artists. . . . When once the pic-
ture is begun, and seems to be likely to answer our
expectations, I wiU let you know for your own satis-
faction, but not to remind you of the price, for there
must be no mention of money between us, since I
wish Your Excellency kindly to accept the painting
for my sake, and you may rest assured that it wUl be
well and speedily finished. I wish for nothing in
exchange, but that you would be kind to Violante,
who is always in my thoughts, so much so that I
shall be forced to come and spend ten days with you
next carnival. — Your servant and kinsman. Ant.
Gal. Bentivolus." ^ Bologna, December 1, 1504.
Violante was the Protonotary's young niece, a
daughter of Alessandro Bentivoglio and Ippohta
Sforza, whom Isabella treated with great kindness,
and who eventually married Gianpaolo Sforza, Mar-
quis of Caravaggio, and is often mentioned in
Bandello's novels.
The Marchesa replied to this letter without delay,
and sent the painter full directions, repeating her
anxiety that Costa's painting " might not suffer from
the baneful influence of that fatal constellation which
seems to have presided over the execution of the other
pictures in my poor Camerino." ^
Unfortunately, that winter Costa fell seriously ill,
and was at the point of death, as M. Antonio told
the Marchesa in April, so that he was quite unable
to begin the picture. By August, however, it was
1 Luzio in Emporium, 1900, p. 359.
2 Yriarte, op. cit.
PAINTS THE TRIUMPH OF POETRY 375
well advanced, and Isabella's constant correspondent,
the poet Casio, informed her that it would be ready
before Christmas, and would, he felt sure, please her
exceedingly. But early in the following January, the
Protonotary wrote again to the Marchesa, apologis-
ing for the painter's delay in finishing her picture,
which would have been ready before this if his
father, Giovanni Bentivoglio, had not employed Costa
to adorn the new mortuary chapel of St. Cecilia.^
Lorenzo's fresco of the saint distributing her goods
to the poor in this chapel bears the date of 1506, and
can only have been finished a few months before the
Bentivogli were driven out of Bologna by Pope
Juhus II. Before that time, no doubt Isabella had
received her picture safely, and may indeed have
taken it back with her when she passed through
Bologna that spring on her return from Florence.
Costa's work hung in the studio of the Grotta on
the same wall as Mantegna's allegories, and is
described in the inventory of 1542 as " a picture by
the hand of the late Messer Lorenzo Costa, painter,
with many figures and trees and a Coronation." The
exact subject is not easy to determine, but there
seems little doubt that the Triumph of Poetry was
the theme assigned to the artist, and that Costa,
being, as Mario Equicola tells us, as amiable a courtier
as he was excellent a painter, dexterously contrived
to pay a compliment to the Marchesa ^ by represent-
ing her as Queen of the realm of song. A winged
boy seated on the lap of the Muse of Poetry is in the
act of placing a laurel crown on Isabella's brow, as
she presides over her court, surrounded by poets who
> A. Venturi, Archivio St. d. Arte, i. 249.
2 C. Yriarte, op. cit.
376 FOR ISABELLA'S STUDIO
pour out their deathless lays, and fair maidens play-
ing the lutes under shady groves. In the foreground
young girls are seen wreathing the ox and the lamb
with flowers, while in the distance armed cavaliers
recall the exploits which live in immortal verse. The
knight in the foreground, who has slain the hydra at
his feet, has been supposed to represent Baldassarre
Castiglione, but more probably wears the features
of Isabella's brother-in-law, Annibale Bentivoglio, or
the courtly Protonotary himself. The fair landscape,
with the distant hills and blue river, winding its
way between grassy banks and woodland glades,
supplies a charming setting for these gallant knights
and lovely maidens, and the whole is conceived
and painted in Costa's most graceful and attractive
manner.
That Isabella was well satisfied with the picture
may be gathered from the fact that when the Benti-
vogli were expelled from Bologna she invited Costa
to come and take Mantegna's place at her court.
"TeU the painter Costa," she wrote to her friend
Casio, on the 16th of November 1506, only five
days after the Pope's triumphal entry into Bologna,
" that if he likes to come here we shall be very glad
to see him."^
By the end of the month, Lorenzo was settled
at Mantua, where the Marquis employed him to con-
tinue the decorations of his palace at St. Sebastian,
which Mantegna had left unfinished. He received a
yearly pension of 669 lire, 10 soldi, and in 1509 the
Marquis gave him 1200 ducats, as well as a house and
250 acres of land at Revere, and granted him the
privilege of a citizen of Mantua in a deed drawn up in
' Gruyer, L'Art a la Cour de Ferrare, ii. 209.
COSTA SETTLES AT MANTUA 377
the most flattering terms. Costa remained at Mantua
to the end of his life, and enjoyed the favour of
Isabella's husband and son until, in 1535, he died of
fever at the age of seventy -five, after a few days' iUness.^
Unfortunately, nothing remains of all the frescoes
with which he adorned the viUas of Revere and Mar-
mirolo and Francesco Gonzaga's favourite palace of
St. Sebastian.
In a letter of April 11, 1509, Isabella tells her
husband that Costa is decorating the haUs of this
palace, and Vasari describes the portraits of the
Marquis and his three sons, Federico, Ercole, and
Ferrante, assisting at a sacrifice to Hercules, which
he painted at one end of the hall where Mantegna's
Triumphs hung. In another hall he represented
Francesco led by Hercules up the steep and thorny
ways of the mountain of Eternity, and Isabella sur-
rounded by her ladies playing instruments of music.
These figures, Vasari teUs us, were all painted from
life, and remind us of that admirable portrait of
Isabella which the Marquis showed his future son-in-
law, Francesco Maria, when he visited the Castello in
August 1508. This work pleased the Marchesa so
much that she wrote from Cavriana begging Calandra
to compose an appropriate distich which might be
inscribed on the picture, and when she went to
Ferrara in the following autumn her brothers were so
anxious to see the portrait that a courier was sent to
Mantua to bring it. The original of this portrait has
disappeared, but, as Dr. Luzio has lately pointed out,"
there can be little doubt that the portrait of Isabella
d'Este in the collection of Gonzaga portraits made
' Gruyer, op. cit., ii. 218.
2 Luzio in Emporium, 1901, p. 435.
378 FRANCIA PROMISES TO PAINT
by Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol in 1579, and now
in the Vienna Gallery, was copied from Costa's
painting, which was then still preserved at Mantua.
Although the work of an inferior artist, this picture
is of great interest, especially as the way in which
Isabella wears her hair, and the shape and striped
material of her bodice, bear a marked likeness to
Leonardo's drawing.
About the same time that Isabella employed Costa
to paint a Storia for her studio she entered into
correspondence with his more famous friend, the
goldsmith-painter, Francia. Francia's fame as the first
goldsmith in Italy had spread far beyond his native
city, and his name was familiar to the Marchesa,
since he had often worked for her family. In 1488,
he made a beautiful gold chain of linked hearts for
Duchess Leonora, and after Isabella's marriage he
sent her a chain of engraved gems, while his name
appears on the title-page of the Virgil issued from the
Aldine press, as the maker of the famous Italic types
first used by the great printer. So, when this dis-
tinguished master offered to paint a picture for her
studio, she accepted his proposal readily. On the
17th of August, the poet Casio, in writing to inform
her of the progress of Costa's picture, begged her to
send the drawing for the canvas that Francia was to
paint, since he was anxious to set to work, and had
declined to accept any other commissions until he
heard from the Marchesa. And the writer adds that
he has brought the master some fine ultramarine blue
from Florence expressly for this purpose.
Probably the frescoes upon which Francia was
engaged during the next year in the Chapel of
St. Cecilia, and the revolution which took place at
A STORIA FOR ISABELLA 379
Bologna in 1506, delayed the execution of his work,
but we certainly hear no more of Isabella's Storia for
some time to come. At length, five years later, in
December 1510, the painter himself wrote to the
Marchesa, saying : —
"Hearing that Your Highness desires a canvas
for her Camerino, we await your commands, and wiU
be ready to begin the picture after Christmas, and
devote ourselves to the work with all possible dili-
gence, although we shall have to encounter a perilous
competition. But Apelles and Parrhasius, we trust,
will come to our help. — Francia, aurifex." Bologna,
December 12, 1510.
A month later he returned to the subject.
" I hear from Girolamo Casio that Your Highness
would Uke me to paint the canvas for your Camerino
which was ordered in past years by our mutual friend.
I will gladly place my time and powers at Your
Excellency's disposal, and if you will send me the
canvas as well as the measure and lighting correctly,
so that I may not make any mistake, I will begin it
immediately, and devote myself to the work with the
utmost diUgence, so that I may please Your High-
ness and gain honour myself. — Francia, aurifex." ^
Bologna, January 11, 1511.
After this, however, we hear no more of the
Storia, and the idea was apparently dropped. But
we know that about the same time this popular
master painted a portrait of Isabella's son Federico,
and another of herself, both of which pleased her
greatly. The first was executed in July 1510, when
the young prince, a boy of ten, was on his way to
Rome, where the Venetians required him to re-
^ C. Yriarte, op. cit.
380 HE PAINTS FEDERICO'S PORTRAIT
main as a hostage on his father's release. Isabella,
anxious to have her darhng son's portrait as a con-
solation in his absence, sent an express to the seneschal
Matteo Ippolito, begging him to engage Francia to
paint Federico's picture during his short stay at
Bologna.
"As soon as Your Excellency's letter reached
me," wrote Matteo, on the 29th of July, " I sent for
the painter Francia, who gladly undertook to draw
Signor Federico's portrait, but fears that he cannot
finish it as quickly as you desire. I am sure, how-
ever, that when you see the picture it wiU please you
better than anything which you have seen for many
a long day. It would be impossible for anything to
be more hke him than is this sketch. At first the
master refused to colour it, saying that he had to
make a pair of bards for His Excellency the Duke."
This was Francesco Maria, Duke of Urbino, who was
then in command of the papal forces at Bologna, and
for whom, Vasari tells us, Francia painted a fine set
of harness. " So I had to apply to His Excellency,
who desired him at once to leave his commission and
satisfy Your Highness. As soon as it is ready I
wiU send it to you, and will let you know how much
the painter thinks he ought to be paid for this
portrait." ^
The picture reached Mantua safely on the 10th
of August, and the enchanted mother wrote to Casio,
declaring that it would be impossible to have a better
likeness, and expressing her wonder that so perfect
and admirable a thing should have been made in so
short a time. Since, however, the boy's hair was too
fair, she sent the picture back to Casio in November,
^ A. Bertolotti, Ariisti bolognesi, p. 33.
AND THAT OF ISABELLA 381
begging him to ask Francia to correct this mistake,
which he did. Unluckily, just then the Marquis
Francesco came to Bologna with the Pope, and was
so much delighted with his son's likeness that he
insisted on showing it to His Holiness and the
Cardinals, and ultimately allowed it to be taken to
Rome by a certain Zoan Petro da Cremona, who
quite refused to restore it.
" Francia," wrote Casio on the 7th of November,
" declared that he would not paint a replica of the
portrait for all the gold in the world ! "
Isabella was furious at the loss of her precious
picture, and wrote so indignantly to Rome on the
subject that the missing portrait was returned forth-
with. On the 20th of November, Casio took
Francia to see Federico, who had come to join the
Pope at Bologna, and compare his portrait with the
original. The comparison was satisfactory, and both
Francia and Casio agreed that it was impossible to
improve the picture, which was accordingly sent
back to Mantua. Isabella immediately sent Casio
30 ducats, which Francia acknowledged courteously,
saying that the execution of Signor Federico's por-
trait hardly deserved such liberal payment, but that
he accepted the money as a gracious present from
Her Excellency, and remained her grateful servant
for life.^
A few months later, when a fresh turn in the
tide had brought back the Bentivogli under French
protection to Bologna, Lucrezia d'Este begged her
half-sister to allow Francia, who had succeeded so
well with Federico's hkeness, to paint her own
portrait. The Marchesa agreed readily, and sent
1 C. Yriarte, op. cit.
382 LUCREZIA D'ESTE'S CRITICISM
Lucrezia a drawing of herself, from which Francia
promised to paint the picture, with Madonna
Lucrezia's help. This princess declared that Isabella's
face was so deeply engraved on her heart that she
felt sure she could describe her features, colouring,
and expression all perfectly. But the war that was
raging at the gates of Bologna, and a tertian ague
which attacked the painter, interfered with his good
intentions, and, after two unsuccessful attempts,
Lucrezia herself had to confess that his portrait was
a failure.
" Dear and honoured sister," she wrote on the
7th of September, " I have lately paid constant
visits to the house of the painter Francia to see how
much his portrait resembled you. To speak frankly,
it does not seem to bear you the least Ukeness,
representing you as being thinner and more severe-
looking, and altogether different from the picture
which my imagination retains of you ; so I have
begged the painter, for his honour and my satisfac-
tion, to go to Mantua and see Your Excellency in
life, so that his work may really resemble nature.
This, however, he refuses to promise, saying that it is
too dangerous to venture on a comparison in which
chance has more to do than art, as is the case in
trying to paint a life-like portrait. But he promises
to try once more, and to alter anything that I wish
as often as I like, and perhaps by this means he may
be able to produce a better likeness, although I fear
it cannot really resemble you, since he has not seen
you. Meanwhile, I will do my best to persuade him
to come to Mantua. — Your most devoted sister,
LUCKETIA ESTENSIS."^
1 Luzio in Emporium, 1901, pp. 427-430.
OF FRANCIA'S PORTRAIT 383
Isabella, however, had not the least wish that
Francia should come to Mantua. In the first
place, as she told Lodovico Sforza many years
before, she was quite tired of sitting for her por-
trait. In the second, she was afraid of exciting
the jealousy of her own court painter, Lorenzo
Costa.
" I thank you," she wrote to her sister on the
26th of September, " for your kindness in trying to
induce Francia to come to Mantua, so as to paint my
portrait better, but hope you will not urge him to do
this any more, for, to say the truth, I do not care for
him to come here on this account, because the last
time my portrait was taken the necessity of sitting
still and without moving for a long while became
so tiresome that I never mean to do it again ; but
Your Highness has our image so deeply impressed
on her memory that I feel sure she will be able
to correct the master's mistakes. And you must
also remember that, if we received Francia here,
we should not know how to do this without offend-
ing Costa, and should find it difficult to retain his
friendship."
On receiving this letter, Lucrezia promised not to
press the matter further, and told Isabella that her
sons' tutor was satisfied that Francia's latest attempt
resembled the drawing which had been sent from
Mantua, and that it would be still more hfe-Kke
if he would let her see his picture once or twice
before it was finished. On the 25th of October,
she wrote triumphantly to tell Isabella that the
portrait was quite ready, and met with general ap-
proval, although Francia, who evidently was more
anxious to produce a fine work of art than a correct
384 HER ADMIRATION OF THE WORK
likeness of a lady whom he had never seen, had
not chosen to consult Madonna Lucrezia again on
the subject.
" Our Francia, the foremost goldsmith among
painters, and among goldsmiths most illustrious as
a painter, yesterday brought me Your Illustrious
Signory's portrait, completely finished and placed in
a gold frame, to hear my judgment on his work. I
praised it greatly, since it seemed to me to deserve
high commendation. But if Your Excellency is not
wholly satisfied after inspecting it more closely, you
must not impute the fault to me, since I only saw it
once while he was engaged on the work, although
then I certainly tried to describe Your Excellency's
appearance to him. But you must blame the painter,
who, seeing that his work was superior to the other,
did not care to show it to me again, after promising to
bring it here many times before it was finished, and to
alter anything in it to which I took objection, I
must, however, confess that I see little in the portrait
that does not satisfy my taste. I hope Your Excel-
lency will say the same, for certainly, if you compare it
with the original sketch which was sent from Mantua,
it is no less like nature than that one, while it is far
more perfect in point of art. All those who know
you in this city agree in saying that in Francia's por-
trait they seem to see your living image, and the
most confidential servants of your illustrious lord
the Marquis say the same — above all, Scalona, by
whom I send this letter. So I conclude that you
will be satisfied with our Francia in this first and
difficult task, which, as he himself says, has almost
more to do with chance than with art. I wiU send
both portraits to Your Excellency as soon as possible,
ISABELLA'S PRAISE 385
by way of Ferrara, and commend myself ever to you,
together with my daughters, who are indeed also
yours, since you have married them so much to our
satisfaction." ^
Lucrezia, it must be explained, had a large family
of daughters, whom Isabella treated with great kind-
ness during the years of their exile at Mantua, and
one of whom, Camilla, married Pirro Gonzaga of
Gazzuolo, the youngest son of Antonia del Balzo, and
who, as well as her cousin Violante, is often men-
tioned in Bandello's novels.
On the 6th of November, Francia's picture
was sent to Ferrara by boat, and the painter
himself addressed the following letter to the
Marchesa : —
"Most illustrious Madonna, — We send the por-
trait of Your Highness, which we have done as well
as we could with the help of our M. Lucrecia
Bentivoglio's counsel, and if it is not as perfect
as it ought to be, you must graciously pardon the
painter, who places himself at your pleasure and
service. Nee plura ; vale et vivas felix. — ^Francia,
aurifexr ^
On the 25th of November, the portrait had reached
Mantua, and Isabella lost no time in expressing her
satisfaction with Francia's work.
" To the most excellent painter, Francia. Maestro
Francia, — I have received your portrait, and every one
who has seen it can tell that the work is by your hand,
because of its great excellence. I am exceedingly
obliged to you for giving me so much pleasure. You
have indeed made us far more beautiful by your art
1 A. Luzio, op. cit, p. 429-
2 Yriarte, op. cit.
2 B
VOL. I.
386 CRITICISM OF THE PORTRAIT
than nature ever made us, so that we thank you with
all our heart, and as soon as we can find a trusty
messenger we will pay the debt which we owe you,
without speaking of the obligation under which we
shall always remain to you."
But although the beauty of Francia's picture was
undeniable, the critical Marchesa was not altogether
satisfied with the likeness. The eyes, she thought,
were decidedly too black, and she asked Lucrezia if
the painter could not make them lighter. Neither
the princess nor the artist, however, approved of this
suggestion, as Lucrezia explained in a letter written
on the 9th of December. " II Francia, our painter,
seems to be in heaven, so fuU of delight is he to
hear that his portrait has pleased Your Excellency —
still more, to hear you say that his art has made
you more beautiful than nature. It would, as he
owns, be too great arrogance for the art of painting
to claim superiority over nature ; none the less, he
is by no means displeased to receive so great a
comphment from such a lady ! As to changing the
eyes from dark to light, the result would be doubtful,
and he would reluctantly run the risk of spoiling
what is good in the picture, and of exchanging a
certain for an uncertain advantage. It would be
necessary to alter the shadows of the picture to suit
the colour of the eyes, and then it would have to
be varnished over again, and if the eyes were a little
damaged by this operation, the picture would lose
all its charm. None the less, if you were here
to sit to him, he would do his best to please Your
Excellency, whom he will be ever ready to oblige ;
nor would I be slow to undertake whatever com-
mands you give, great or small, saying, as Eolus did,
ISABELLA GIVES IT AWAY 387
' Juno — Thine, O Queen, it is to command ; mine
it is to see that thy command is obeyed.' Farewell,
therefore, and love me and my children from your
heart. — Your devoted sister, Lucretia Estensis de
Bentivolis." ^
Isabella recognised the truth of Francia's words,
and contented herself with sending him 30 ducats
in the following March, with renewed thanks for
his admirable portrait, and many excuses for the
delays caused by the war that was desolating North
Italy.
The strangest part of the tale yet remains to
be told. According to documents lately published
by Dr. Luzio from the Gonzaga archives,^ Francia's
portrait was given away by the Marchesa that winter
to a Ferrarese courtier named Zaninello. This
gentleman had lately presented her with the original
MS. of Pistoja's Rime, superbly bound and richly
illuminated, with a dedication to herself. This was
one of those gifts on which Isabella laid especial
store, and the volume of the dead poet's works found
a place among her choicest treasures. In 1531, the
Ferrarese poet Berni asked her permission to borrow
the book; on another occasion Alessandro Benti-
voglio, to whom Isabella lent it, returned the volume
adorned with a set of finely worked clasps. The
Marchesa repUed, half in jest, half in earnest : " It
was really not necessary for Your Highness to
have had these handsome clasps made for my book
of Pistoia's poems, so as to play the part of a good
tenant ! I did not ask you to pay rent, but lent it to
you solely for your pleasure, as I would lend you
1 Luzio in Emporium, 1900, p. 429.
2 Op. cit.
388 TO ZANINELLO
anything that I possess ; certainly I could do no less.
But since, with your wonted gentilezza, you have
chosen to adorn my book, I thank you warmly for
your gracious courtesy." ^
The Marchesa, it seems, hardly knew how to re-
pay Zaninello for his splendid present, and, learning
from her faithful Bernardo dei Prosperi that nothing
would please the donor better than her own portrait,
she sent him Francia's beautiful painting to adorn
his cabinet of pictures. Still more surprising is it
to find that in the following May she presented this
same Ferrara gentleman with Francia's portrait of
her darling Federico, so that, as Zaninello wrote,
his lowly roof was glorified by the presence of
both mother and son, both Venus and Cupid.
Unfortunately this portrait, in which Isabella con-
fessed the painter's art had made her more beauti-
ful than she was in life, has shared the fate of
so many others, and is only known to us by the
famous picture which Titian painted from Francia's
model.^
Many other objects of virtil, good pictures
and rare antiques, poems and songs, came to
Isabella from Bologna, sometimes through her
kinsfolk the Bentivogli, more often through her
friend Girolamo Casio. One letter of his, dated the
15th of April 1506, when Isabella was expected at
Bologna on her return from Florence, contains a
curious list of articles which he has procured for
her. " There are, first of aU, the oUves, which you
will accept for my sake ; then the Magdalen painted
1 Cappellij Rime di A. Cammelli d. il Pistoia, p. 58.
2 This interesting fact has been lately proved by Dr. Luzio in
his paper on Isabella's portraits (^Emporium, 190O).
DEATH OF GIORGIONE 389
by Lorenzo da Credi "—perhaps the well-known
picture by the Florentine master now at Berhn—
" also a picture of fruit by Antonio da Crevalcore —
a master most excellent in his art — but painted
larger than hfe. The pupil of Francia has finished
his Madonna, which is much praised by some persons.
You wiU see it soon, and can have it if you hke
for as many gold ducats as it weighs I Seriously,
the work is worth more than 10 ducats, but you
must pay what you choose, and I wiU see that he is
satisfied. Your Excellency need not trouble your-
self about the money — I wiU settle that for your
sake— to whom I commend myself from the bottom
of my heart. Semper felix valeat 1 — Your most
aifectionate servant, H. Casius."
In the year that Francia painted her son's por-
trait, Isabella, who never neglected an opportunity
of securing a work by a great master, heard of
Giorgione's death from her friends at Venice, and
wrote immediately to the banker Taddeo Albano,
begging him to inquire after a wonderful Notte
which the dead artist was said to have painted. The
fame of this master, whose exquisite art must
have charmed Isabella's refined and poetic nature
beyond all others, had reached Mantua long before,
and on her visits to Venice she had often seen
the noble portraits which he painted of her patrician
friends, and the frescoes which adorned the marble
palaces along the Canale Grande with their glowing
colours. Now that Zorzo da Castelfranco had died
of the plague in the flower of his age, the Marchesa
hastened to ask Messer Taddeo and her faithful
Lorenzo da Pavia to secure one of his pamtmgs for
her Camerino.
390 ISABELLA ASKS FOR HIS NOTTE
"Dearest friend," she wrote to Albano on the
25th of October 1510, " we hear that among the
possessions left by Zorzo da Castelfranco, the painter,
there is a picture of a Notte, very beautiful and
original. If this is the case, we wish to have it, and
beg your Lorenzo da Pavia or any other person of
taste and judgment to go and see if it is a really
excellent thing. If it is, I hope you wiU endeavour
to secure this picture for me, with the help of our
dearest compare the Magnifico Carlo Valerio, or
of any one else you may think fit. Find out the
price, and let us have the exact sum ; but if it is
really a fine thing, and you think well to clench
the bargain for fear others should carry it off, do
what you think best, for we know that you will
act for our advantage, with your wonted loyalty
and wisdom."
Taddeo replied on the 8th of November : —
" Most illustrious and honoured Madama mia, —
In reply to Your Excellency's letter, the said Zorzo
died more of exhaustion than of the plague. I have
spoken in your interests to some of my friends who
were very intimate with him, and they assure me
that there is no such picture among his possessions.
It is true that the said Zorzo painted a JVotte for
M. Taddeo Contarini, which, according to the in-
formation which I have, is not as perfect as you
would desire. Another picture of the Notte was
painted by Zorzo for a certain Vittore Beccaro,
which, from what I hear, is finer in design and better
finished than that of Contarini. But Beccaro is not
at present in Venice, and from what I hear neither
picture is for sale, because the owners have had
them painted for their own pleasure, so that I
DOSSO DOSSI AT MANTUA 391
regret I am unable to satisfy Your Excellency's wish.
— ^Your servant, Thaddeus Albanus." ^ Venice,
November 8, 1510.
These interesting letters not only prove the exact
date of Giorgione's death, but show the priceless
value which the paintings of this short-lived master
had already acquired in the eyes of his countrymen.
Another painter who caught something of Gior-
gione's romantic invention and poetic feeling often
visited Mantua in Isabella's life-time. This was
Dosso Dossi, one of Alfonso d'Este's favourite artists
and an intimate friend of the poet Ariosto, whose
fantastic imagination and magical dreams seem to
live again in such pictures as the Circe and the
Nymph of the Borghese collection. In 1511 Dosso
spent some time at Mantua and painted a fresco in
the palace of San Sebastiano, while the St. WiUiam
in armour and a Holy Family at Hampton Court
both came to England from the Gonzaga collection.
And it is of interest to remember that Titian paid his
first visit to Mantua in the company of this Ferrarese
master. Finally, among the painters who worked for
Isabella, we must not forget to mention Caroto and
Francesco Bonsignori, whose names appear so often
in the Marchesa's letters. Both were of Veronese
birth, but spent many years at Mantua as followers
and assistants of Mantegna, and helped in the decora-
tion of the palaces and churches of the Gonzagas.
In 1513 Bonsignori painted a portrait of the poet
Pistoia by IsabeUa's command, while his altar-piece
of the Beata Osanna with the Madonna kneeUng at
her feet belongs to a somewhat earher date. To
Carotd, MoreUi ascribes the weU-known portrait o±
1 Luzio, Arch. St. d. Arte, 1888.
392 CAROTO'S OLD MAN
Elisabetta Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino, now in the
Uffizi, and Vasari tells us that an admirable head
of an old man, bearing a hawk on his wrist, by
the same artist, was bought by Isabella for a
large sum and placed in the studio, where she had
collected " an infinite number of rare and precious
works of art." ^
1 Vite, X. 70.
END OF VOL. 1
Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson Sf Co.
Edinburgh 6^ London
II
C/2
PP
H
<
u
I— I
o
o
o
II-
O CO
O CO
lltS
s I
A CO
00
|2;o_
f- O CO
O CJJOa
O W3
-O tH
8 9"
^ '33
11 -: §<A
3s
"53
^33
<L> O
9 to
"oti
^-^
OrH
33
OS 10
(1) J>
U c4
o tj
EH ^ ^ a
2iSfil=
oJ O
_C3 in
II
VOL. I.
2 c
o
d3
cq
O
-a
P4
II
_g
« mi
J-, Ceo
a <s
53
F^
T3
II
fcj o
5?
0"
^
1
sg
— rf
"Y
CO
5
1-1
»
-1
rj<
S
■*
3
a
g
1
g^
oi
-Cso
Xi
S3
^
w
PQ
II
Hi
06
.1
1
■Sgti
'3 -,
iH
**
ii
<o a Q
2"
-^ S J
b'"
11 ^
II
rt ^
_s s
*d
J3
§2
S
— -aS
M
1^
«-*
«■«
tow
ofgtl
"3521
3 ^
■S5'3
S^S
ii
II
wS
a3
.HO 3
^3 So
^ "P o o
3 •as
•is
-S'S
-■B^sS'r
e3Q
■SaS
3 00
O "3
0)5
.20
-.14 2
03 aT'i-,
t4 q o
Hi -a.
IS
o
1^^
p
••
,?f<!
Wcq
li-
ass
-Sr.1,
as
t>
a a
55
1-
w
z
o
H
CO
o
<>1
O
N
o
o
H
z;
o
h-(
PP
O
1-1
O
N
N
O
PQ
z
o
^ 3j
II
'S
— O
a
o
. so
fflJ5
O o
gam-
1
S^f
■£
^i
K
II
6
s
-<D
o
Hi
a
^
C3
-hS o
13 O C
O
O g
11
m
DO
Cj
-0
a
m
eS
A
sStI P I
<«H
o a
rt
ss
a)-<-<
O
upq
II
6
e8
Cm
O
s
«
cd
3
i'ss 1
i[
P=i
nil
II
'S to ta
S o
ta o
MO
:i —
6 gi
h^ q So
«J p
o
- -S
a .02
rtrH<4H
eats ®
•^ o
— 581
Is
!5^
^1^
o 2-*
oO I
bo
o o
ON
N
^ o
SS3.2 -S
S3
CO
t> 9
'r^y
Live Music
Archive
Librivox
Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland
Museum of Art
Internet
Arcade
Console Living Room
Open Library
American
Libraries
TV News
Understanding
9/11